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Casus Belli: Kalos kai agathos
31/08/09 || Daemonomania
Casus Belli could have had it all. The cars, the women, the food. Ripping Polish black/death was their trade and we all know that scene can produce endless wealth and fame. So what happened? Why aren’t we mentioning Casus Belli in the same breath as Behemoth or, uh, Behemoth? I’ll tell you what fucken happened. THE GODDAMN KEYBOARDS.
Even though I’m not a musician, I can understand why a metal band would want to use ye olde Casio from time to time. By including a sound that cannot be produced by a distorted guitar, bass, or set of drums a unique atmosphere is added to the tune. A melody from whence there was only darkness. There are many bands where this idea works like a charm. See Opeth, intros to newer Vader songs, the section in the middle of “Left hand path” for chrissake.
Casus Belli, however, decided that instead of the sweeping, majestic keyboard sound they’d rather go with the fun times at the circus and we ain’t talking about the old-school Roman circus keyboard sound. When you’ve got an asskicking fast and brutal track that suddenly is interrupted by the intro to Sly and the Family Stone’s “Fun”, laughter is the natural response.
Which is too bad, because these dudes are good songwriters. The transitions between different parts of the songs, if they had just been done with an acoustic guitar, would have been applause-worthy. And while the production is not fantastic, you can certainly hear a good number of violent riffs tearing away at the flesh ov Jehovah. Plus the vocalist has an excellent high-pitched growl – even approaching Tompa levels from time to time. Drumming is good but nothing to rape a pierogi over, and if you can hear the bass on a regular basis then you sir are superhuman and should apply for a job in the US Department of Extreme Metal Bass Detection. The salary and benefits over there are amazing.
What else? Well, the two other unintentionally funny items besides those cotton candy and animal abuse for the masses keyboards are the Fabio spoken word sections and the lyrical content. Some gems from various songs for your reading pleasure:
Your genes are the ground
Progress and will are the corn
Is he a dwarf ? or is he a giant?
Your value is proven by you
For power is sweeter than honey
More pleasant than her bosom
The hidden realm is a fusty land
Zog is its hideous master
Amber born in the sea
Where great trees shed their tears
Those that were humming here
Before the child of man set his foot in this woods
Pleasant bosoms, humming trees, fusty lands, progressive corn, and dwarves – being a pagan sounds rad.
So I can actually recommend Casus Belli for those fans of Euro black/death who don’t mind a bit of fuzz and a lot of circus. If only they’d left out that last part – I’m sure they’d be knee deep in this.
- Information
- Released: 2000
- Label: Hellvis
- Website: Casus Belli MySpace
- Band
- Igor: vocals
- Krzysiek: guitars
- Liber: guitars
- Kêpol: bass
- Marcin: keyboards
- Rafa³: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Intro
- 02. One Idea at the Break of New Dawn
- 03. Universe is a Unity
- 04. Female Flesh
- 05. Kalos Kai Agathos
- 06. Nawia
- 07. Dago
- 08. Fantasy?
- 09. Lycantrophy Psychology (what is that werewolf thinking?)
- 10. O Wzgardzicielach Ciala
- 11. Forthcoming of the Forces of the New Eon
- 12. Amber
