Right first things first, I thought “kalopsia” would be the name of some sort of bum-disease or something. But no. I was wrong. According to my dictionary in means “a state or delusion in which things appear more beautiful than they really are. As a combination of the Greek roots kallos, meaning beauty, and opsis, meaning sight” so there you go. Not a prolapsed rectum or dropped womb in sight….. which I guess is a good thing really although this album is a belter and it’s entirely possible it’ll cause organ damage if you’re not careful.
I wasn’t familiar with New Jersey’s Kalopsia prior to this album which is a bit of a shame as I can’t compare it to any of their previous two albums. What I can tell you is that the lads have produced one kick-arse album here. Starting with a total belter in “Destined To Return” I had to replay the beginning of that song a few times to make sure it was actual human beings making the racket that was emanating from my speakers. Intense is not the word here. Throughout the album, there is just the right amount of brutality, speed, a touch of melody and catchiness to make it a rewarding listen as opposed to the endurance test of so many modern death metal albums. Justin Spaeth’s drumming is phenomenal on every track and Matt Medeiros has the perfect growl for this kind of din.
The riffing is quite thrashy but sharper than my wife’s tongue. There’s a certain Malevolent Creation meets Immolation sound to the songs that is always gonna be welcome to these ears and every track is absolutely unrelentingly savage but has a really addictive quality to it, especially during slower numbers like “As The Serpent Devours” where the bass is upfront.
Nothing more need to be said really, apart from the bonkers cover art from Aditia Wardhana is totally apt. This is a really good record that is more than deserving of a place in your death metal collection. You will not be disappointed.
(8/10 Mark Eve)
Leave a Reply