Khold "Mørke Gravers Kammer" CD
[Candlelight]
In my opinion this is the best material yet from Norway's Khold. I'm very impressed not only by how awesome the recording is, but also by the sheer power and intrigue of the songwriting. Most of the tracks are moderately paced, with simple chord progressions and minimal drumbeats. There's a lot of repetition, but also a good number of dissonant riffs and strange melodic tinges or structures. Take for instance the spacious opening dropouts in "Hevnerske" or the creative melodies and dynamics throughout the amazing title track. One of the only true and conventional bursts of speed comes during the opening track "Åtselgraver", and on the other hand "Opera Seria" closes with a reversed riff/vocals that makes an interesting segue into the more driving and persistent "Sjeleskjender" (probably the most structurally typical track herein based on the genre's usual expectations - but a fine one at that). But, to me, this embodies a true progression of black metal's original essence. It's absolutely a bit slower than some of, say, Darkthrone's more moderately paced classics, but at the same time, atmospherically, this is dead set black metal. There's no doubt about that fact. And the production is fucking perfect. Perhaps too polished for some traditional black metal fans, but in my opinion this is an absolutely wonderful recording. Everything is dense as hell, but pristinely clear. You can hear the resonance of the percussion, every pounding note of bass, of course the guitars are central, and even the vocals are perfectly enunciated and textured - really giving them an extra edge over a lot of comparable acts. As usual the layout looks excellent, silly band photos and all - this band just has a more intriguing and effective artistic vision, so they really pull it off and keep the atmosphere of the design in line with that of the music. All of the lyrics are in Norwegian, and generally brief, but the aesthetic of the packaging is definitely quite nice. There's a CD-Rom video for "Død" that's similar in color and overall aesthetic to the layout, basically performance footage of the band in relatively bleak settings - nothing too unusual. This is an excellent record, though. A bit one-sided or consistent to a degree, absolutely. But that pounding rhythm never lets up, and the sheer fluidity of the record as a whole - the music, the writing, the artwork (and I assume the lyrics)... it's just a strong, strong record. Definitely recommended. (7/10)
Running time - 38:33, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Åtselgraver, Mørke Gravers Kammer, Sjeleskjender]
Candlelight Records - http://www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

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