For those of you who didn’t catch my review of Kapala’s debut EP Infest Cesspool, here’s the highlights: Aaaaaaaaaaaggggggggguuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
Basically Kapala don’t fuck around. This is bestial war metal of the most fucked up order. Ultra-guttural, ultra-brutal, grinding blackened noise. And as an extra fuck you to those who thought their debut was just a talentless racket, they’ve actually progressed. For a start the drums have been recorded in the same room as the other two band members this time around, and for another thing there is actually a semblance of production here. No this doesn’t mean that it is any less cacophonous, violent, nightmarish or out of control. Just you can hear what’s ripping you a new one. You can hear riffs and guitar runs and the time changes, you feel that bass flick the tempo from grind to crawl and back again. It’s unhinged glory, a riot of noise and shocking touches of control.
What the West Bengali war machine bring here is four tracks with intro and outro. If you need reference points try Gnaw Their Tongues covering Impiety and Sturmtiger in a derelict bunker. ‘Martial Dominance’, ‘Moral Attrition’, ‘Paths Of Ash’, ‘Vomit The Phosphorus’. You get the idea.
Within their brutal low-fi howl Termination Apex reveals the structure, composition and insane intent that I knew was in the putrid skin of Kapala. It’s not nice, normal, hummable, safe or pleasant. It’s a war machine teetering on the edge of a cliff but still trying to rip your head off heedless of its own predicament. A bloody, rusted, oil leaking nightmare.
And to those who laughed at my review of their debut: I was right, you were wrong. This is the proof.
Love it.
(8/10 Gizmo)
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