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Krallice: Krallice

17/11/09 || Khlysty

What happens when two of the most insanely talented guitarists in modern metal team up, with the sole purpose of creating a black metal album? Shit, man, Krallice happens and if you know what’s good for you, you’d run out, buy their first eponymous record, drop it in the player and then drop on your knees and thank whatever deity you believe in for the Fates that brought together Messieurs Mick Barr (of Orthrelm and Octis infamy) and Colin Marston (of Dysrhythmia/Behold… The Arctopus insanity), along with drummer Lev Weinstein (of Bloody Panda doomfuckery), and let them combine their incredible strengths into forging a record that, at the same time, sanctifies and pisses on black metal.

Look, if you’re one of those tr00/grim/kvlt types, I suggest that you skip this review entirely. Yeah, that’s right, go somewhere else. Don’t stay here one moment longer; this shit is too far gone for your sensitive psyches to cope with. I mean, fuck, even the production is wrong: it’s got clarity, it’s got separation, it’s got mid-range, even some (gulp!) low-fuckin’-end! I tells you, man, this is as far removed from you basic trolls-in-a-cave-during-a-blizzard production of tr00/grim/kvlt black metal, that your ears will fall off from sheer ire towards the profanities committed by those heathens from Noo Yawk Citey. Also, these guys display amazing instrumental prowess and serious orchestration and composing skills, which is another profanation against the Unholiest of The Unholies of your beloved genre (that is, the practice of making everything sound as unprofessional and tyro as possible).

Yep, this is as un-traditional as it gets, and then some. The song structures, while obviously originating from modern –and, especially, US-made- black metal (see Weakling, latter-day Nachtmystium, Wolves In The Throne Room, Cobalt et al for reference) get more and more convoluted and complicated as time passes, ending up looking more like mathematic expressions of rage and desperation. The guitars, while raging all the time with insanely fast tremolo-picking, move towards abstraction as fast as they turn back to more “traditional” black metal melodicism, making everything sound as alien as possible, but always within the framework of what “black metal” is supposed to be.

This can get really disorienting and complex (“Timehusk” flirts with prog- and math-metal, as much as it tremolo-picks everything to Hell; “Cnestorial” is pure mindfuck; “Energy Chasms” writhes and rages with a power never even imagined by black metal; I could go on, but I won’t…), as Krallice butt-fucks black metal with a splintered metal dildo of talent, skill, experimentation and iron discipline of infinite proportions. Everything here is done, not to appease fans of the genre, but to show to the ignoramouses everywhere that, yes, black metal can be what it’s supposed to be, without being straight-jacketed into stale tradition and silly posturing and everything else that’s turned it into another has-been genre. This is, first and foremost, smart music, played with flair and conviction by extremely talented people. Call it progressive black metal, or math-black, or anything you like. I’ll just call it great.

Information
Released: 2008
Label: Profound Lore Records
Website: Krallice MySpace
Band
Mick Barr: vocals, guitar, bass
Colin Marston: guitar, bass
Lev Weinstein: drums
Nick McMaster: additional vocals

Tracklist
01. Wretched wisdom
02. Cnestorial
03. Molec codices
04. Timehusk
05. Energy chasms
06. Forgiveness in rot

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