Following a bands career is often quite tumultuous as you experience each release with bated anticipation; excitement, fear and wonder all partake in this venture and Keep Of Kalessin has been one of those bands for me. The band is well established and likely to be known by most in black metal circles as their releases have often courted much discussion. At the helm of this innovative band is Obsidian a black visionary who has challenged the accepted norms of black metal with each release. Quality over quantity is an oft used phrase by musicians and labels to describe bands that don’t release much but when you do get something rather special and this Norwegian act fits that ideology extremely well since this release is the first in five years discounting the “Introspection” EP from 2013. Five years since the controversial “Reptilian” album, where the band successfully deployed “Dragontower” as an entry for the Finland Eurovision song contest much to the chagrin of the underground internet black metal commandos seeking to vilify the band for branching out a little. When this release was offered to me I had already pre-ordered it on limited edition vinyl as I love this band that much begging the question of impartiality I guess but objectivity and integrity is something I hold highly within this reviewing aspect of my life.
The path to the release of “Epistemology” has been engaging particularly the competition for the album cover design and it is safe to say just like the music it contains it is very different to their previous ones as the competition produced what I would call masterpieces by some enormously creative and talented people around the world. Added to that the band lost/fired (depending on what you read) Thebon from their ranks which I found disappointing but bands evolve and morph according to direction and vision and this release is certain to rattle a few people due to the ever present narrow mindedness within the metal community thinking bands belong to them personally when they do not.
Dealing with the idea of human beings having a limitation to their knowledge, according to the album title anyway, the album is a monumental sonic adventure with “Cosmic Revelation” film score like opening intro listening like the unveiling of a musical curtain for “The Spiritual Relief” and immediately the massive amount of clean vocals by Obsidian will cause eyebrows to raise, foreheads to furrow and other puzzled expressions to adorn listeners faces. This is Keep Of Kalessin now, not ten or 15 years ago, as the tune sets out its mission of epic progressive black metal which is nothing new per se but the final product is resoundingly ostentatious. Five years since the last album is a long time in any music style and sound wise this is clean, auditory brushstrokes with the utmost finesse and even a touch of pomposity as strident harmonies flow fluidly alongside the blasting sections which skirt the fringes of the opener effortlessly. There is a similarity to later material by both Borknagar and Enslaved, a majestic tapestry that continues with “Dark Divinity” and some truly schizoid guitar work bedazzling the listener along with the snare blast which is wholly savage. Dropping the tune into verse mid tempo pace with harmony vocalisations grabbing it and thrusting it forward gathering the blasting along when needed. The speed of this tune is reminiscent of the “Reclaim” EP from many years ago but the sudden change to a melodic break with keyboard adornments and subsequent spoken vocals is not too dissimilar to the likes of old Cradle Of Filth if truth be had but enjoyable throughout.
Sonic theatrics may be a little pretentious to use within music but the likes of Devin Townsend has made a career out of crafting songs that possess boundless creative energy as “The Grand Design” creeps in with a rolling snare that threatens to hurtle the song out of control but it just builds the song up to its crushing crescendo as the vocals are much harsher and as the tune breaks into mid cadence it feels like you’re being carried along by an aural tornado making it a standout for me personally. Harking back to the “Reptilian” album “Necropolis” is a pounding track, extremely melodic with no blasts to be heard as the guitar works weaves labyrinthine skeins into your psyche before unravelling when appropriate for the choral breaks. Shorter, aggressive and as violent as any Keep Of Kalessin tune “Universal Core” is a pulverising double kick blasting maelstrom, monstrous in delivery the song is demonically phenomenal with an enslaving hook and vocal melody. Closing the album is the title track clocking nearly the ten minute mark and the short cymbal smash with guitar riff is battered to one side by the scintillating snare detonations before the tune reins in and plunges the pace down. The tune stays fixed on a pervading course of melody but countersinking it with those relentless blasts that often blur the tune unless you’re paying attention fully. Chaos and melodic black metal are fractious siblings with each vying for superiority as chaos loses out to a superb lead piece not far off the great guitar leads of the 70s and 80s, focused and highly charged the solo is emotive and drifts away to leave the tune stripped bare ready to be augmented for the next wave of lead work which is thoroughly heart-stopping and closes this breathtakingly intelligent and mind-blowing album.
(9.5/10 Martin Harris)
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