Norway is quite relentless when it comes to giving birth to amazing black metal bands. Krake steps into the metal scene with their new album, entitled "Conquering Death." This symphonic black metal band gives you everything you want and more in this new album combining ravishing orchestral instruments with devilish growling vocals and murderous guitar riffs. Even the drumming will completely blow your mind.
The opening track, "A Murder Of Crows," is a short minute and a half introduction that paints a very dark and cold image. The instrumental uses all sorts of instruments and sounds that really pulls you into the album as you curiously wait to see what comes next. It fades right into punishing guitar riffs in "And A Colder Breed." A gorgeous synth soars into the air as monstrous double bass drum rolls rumble heavily beneath you. This will definitely have you bobbing your head immediately. The verses soon follow with wicked black metal growls that completely run right through you. These haunting vocals along with beautiful keyboards really gives you that beauty and the beast type of feel to the music. Massive amounts of double bass pedals demolish you with each and every heavy hit. Meanwhile relentless cymbals crash violently behind them. This is the perfect opener for this album.
"Hearts Blood" keeps the tempo going with more wild cymbals splashing while catchy melodic guitar riffs scream over them with beastly distortion. The vocals come in with more aggressive lyrics that will knock you on your ass. The ravishing strings and keyboards keep the song sounding clean and organized while the guitar riffs blast away with many different chugging patterns and melodic riffs as well. I had a hard time getting past these first few tracks. You'll become friends quickly with the repeat button after hearing these songs.
Songs like "Ed" and "The great Leviathan" keep the album going with upbeat tempos that will have you up and moshing right away. The vocals stay dark with monstrous growling yet give a sort of viking like tone in the delivery. The way they display some of these evil growls remind me of songs from the viking metal band Amon Amarth. Blaring guitars fly by while thunderous drum fills completely take over the background with deep bassy kicks and powerful snares. Later you'll come across an 8 minute masterpiece by the name "Victorious, I." The song structure alone will have you hypnotized. Guitar riffs are constantly switching back and forth between quick double bass pedals to complex drum rolls with rapid toms and snares. Meanwhile light strings float in the background throughout the whole track providing just enough atmosphere to enjoy the melodic guitars and bass at the same time. The mixtures of instruments flow perfectly and before you know it the eight minutes are up and you're on to the next track.
Another epic track that really stands out above the rest is "The Gatekeeper." The drums in this track alone with have you in complete shock. The double bass pedal patterns are absolutely insane beating you into the ground with machine gun speed and overwhelming power. The track starts out slow with mellow synths and gorgeous melodies but don't let that fool you. Soon after comes jack hammering double bass pedals along with relentless guitar riffs and booming bass. The vocals stay constant verse after verse leaving no time to breath. I guarantee that this track will have you up and moving right from the get.
"Conquering Death" is a well written album that displays 10 epic tracks that fit together perfectly. Krake gives you everything from wild guitar solos to dominating drum rolls and double bass blast beats. The vocals have a different feel to each track making each one unique and powerful. This album is well worth your time so make sure you check it out.
8/10
Official Site - http://www.facebook.com/Kraakeofficial
Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/krakelegion
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