To the casual observer the Portuguese metal scene appears a tightknit network of intermingling, with musicians popping up in each other’s bands with startling regularity.  A stalwart of the scene is drummer Pedro Mau; who has been an integral cog in some of Portugal’s most intriguing underground bands for over two decades.  He began plying his trade with hardcore metallers Kneeldown, but after disbanding he took things to a more extreme level with his current band, the diabolically dark, blackened doom mongers Wells Valley.  Clearly with too much time on his hands, Pedro is now stepping out alone (sort of) with his solo project Kneel.  It’s very much Pedro’s baby with the multi-instrumentalist playing guitar, bass and drums, while also taking on production duties and designing the artwork.  Bearing in mind the close connection of the name with his earlier band one may assume that it’s a return to his roots.

If Pedro’s past bands have scaled the extremes of metal; from relatively accessible hardcore with hints of nu-metal, to intense black metal, then Kneel appears to sit somewhere betwixt the two.  Opener ‘Qualm’ features a sample of Patrick Henry’s colonial independence speech from the 1936 film Give Me Liberty, which feels particularly significant after the events of 2020, before ushering in the noise.  The introduction of serrated guitars give it a thrash metal feel, but the addition of Filipe Correia’s (Wells Valley and Concealment) growling vocals, like an angrier Max Cavalera, give an added death metal bite.  There’s something familiar about Ailment, it harks back to the glory days of the 90’s/00’s metal, with flourishes of bands like Sepultura and Pantera.  ‘Awry’ has a whiff of Fear Factory about it, minus the industrial element, featuring a riff that’s reminiscent of ‘Self-Bias Resistor’, alongside pounding drums and a whole load of double bass pedal action.  Musically it’s very heavy and so too is the subject matter, with Ailment described as ‘that meaningless ache that in a later stage of life can result in awful consequences’.

At the halfway mark it does become apparent that Ailment won’t be deviating too much from its established sound, featuring plenty of heavy chugging guitars, staccato breakdowns, and discordant guitar leads.  There are a few tracks that switch the tempo up; ‘Raptorial’ is pummelling speed metal, featuring a huge neck snapping break down that slam dancers will go crazy for, while ‘Bellicose’ is fast and punky with a groove that will drive the pit into a frenzied jig.  As Ailment draws to a close we’re treated to one of its standout tracks with ‘Impenitent’.  It features another huge groove, coupled with an ascending riff that dances around the fretboard, while being punctuated by machine gun drumming; helping to dispel the ‘no catchy tunes’ rule and breaking up the monotony a tad.

This is an impressive solo project; with Pedro Mau involved in almost every facet of its creation, only vocals and lyrics outsourced to his long-time collaborator Filipe Correia.  Ailment references some good old fashioned thrash metal from the last three decades while mixing in elements of tech and death metal to give it a more contemporary sound.  Kneel prides itself on creating ‘challenging song structures with no formulas, no lame choruses or catchy tunes’, which is by and large true.  However, it’s this stubbornness to stick to the modus operandi that means Ailment feels a little repetitive at times.  Consumed in bite size chunks Ailment can hold its own with some of the best, and will no doubt kick arse in a live setting, particularly at festivals.  Ailment doesn’t necessarily break new ground, but it’s a valiant effort nonetheless; a solid blast of rage that will no doubt remedy a few ills, mainly by administering a prolonged bludgeon to the head.

(7/10 James Jackson)

https://www.facebook.com/seekinsideyourself

https://kneel.bandcamp.com/album/ailment