Keep of Kalessin are back with their new full length opus. This is band’s first full length since 2015 and seventh opus in all. This one contains nine songs. Keep of Kalessin don’t play melodic black metal as they did in their early days, band being formed in 1995. Nowadays, they play bombastic mixture of symphonic black metal and so much more, thrash metal solos being influences in ‘Hellride’, but also symphonic and orchestral melodies in the title song being one of my personal favorites. They retained their black metal roots and blast beats but made it more progressive, more aggressive and melodic at the same time. Keyboard parts fit perfectly in songs and vocals are story for themselves. Obsidian Claw, the only remaining founding member delivers vocals in unbelievable range, from classic black metal screams, fantastic clean passages and atmospheric melodies to thrash metal shouting and death metal grunts making this record one of the best black metal opuses released in 2023 and making my jaws open and dropped in amazement. Although there are some longer songs, like epic ‘The Omni’ or ‘The Obsidian’s Expanse’, not a second of this album gets boring or stale. At times they remind me of best Emperor’s works, but to be sure, not being a clone, only an inspiration. This is black metal record par excellence.
Malo se zna o ovom bendu odnosno projektu, osim da dolazi iz Los Angelesa i da je glavni u svemu stanoviti M. koji je odgovoran za sve na ovom opusu, i muziku i vokale. Na Lamp of Murmuur novom opusu nalaze se 6 pjesama od kojih je jedna kratak instrumentalni intermezzo koji služi kao pasaž između dva svijeta, a zove se ‘Descending from the Aurora’. Ono što ne mogu izbjeći kod slušanja ovog benda/projekta je usporedba sa europskom black metal scenom i zvukom, pogotovo mi pada na pamet Immortal odnosno njihovi kasniji albumi poput ‘At The Heart Of Winter’, jer su pjesme na ovom opusu također dugačke, s puno epskih riffova i atmosfere ratništva, ponosa i odličnim miksom melankolike i agresije. Pjesme kao što su ‘Conqueror Beyond the Frenzied Fog’, te ‘In Communion with the Wintermoon’ su svakako himne na koje treba obratiti pažnju. Vidio sam na društvenoj mreži da je Lamp of Murmuur u svibnju na europskoj turneji i sviraju i u Beču, zanima me kako to zvuči uživo, pretpostavljam da M.ima session muzičare i to dobre, jer je album stvarno odličan.
Unfelled are relatively new band in the scene but its members are in no way new and strangers to the scene. This band consists of D.(Woods Of Desolation) on guitars and bass, Vlad(Drudkh) on drums and Mitch(Austere, Dearthe) on vocals. This debut full length opus contains seven songs of pure raw pagan black metal with lots of blast beats, old school nineties black metal influenced guitar work and screaming black vocals. But, there are couple of epic parts and melodies which make this one an interesting listen between aggression, anguish, pride and pagan beliefs to melancholy, sadness and melody. Songs like heavy hitters ‘The Opposer’ or ‘Veil of Perdition’ or my personal favorite ‘Transcendent Legacy’ are sure to win you over with tempo changes, darkness that is almost touchable in its thickness created through music. I must also commend vocals which are screamed black vocals but also harsh, yet you are able to understand most of being sung, so that is another plus in my opinion. There are couple of longer songs on this one but the opus doesn’t get boring for one single second. This is a strong black metal record with conviction and steel delivered through music. Go get this one.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 