Album Type:
Album
Date Released:
02nd
September 2014
Label:
Candlelight Records
Transient - track listing:
1.Order Of the
Solitary Road
2.Circling the Drain
3.Return Fire
4.To Speak With
Ghosts
5.Atlas With A
Broken Arm
6.Time
7.Winter
8.Walk With Them
Unnoticed
9.Ruin Our Lives
10.Home
11.Gospel Hand
Band Members
J. Dost (Drums)
N. Jameson (Vocals, Various Instruments)
A. Poole (Guitars)
D. Sykes (Bass)
D. Zdanavage (Guitars)
Review:
In
an age where black metal is widely coupled with the ‘experimental’
sounds of harsh electronics, shoegazing post-rock, synthesizers, or
pretty much anything that deviates from the blueprints designed in
the early 80s, it takes a band with gusto and imagination to really
tread the line between orthodox and heterodox and do so with a smooth
grace. Then again, when you really think about it, you could say that
Krieg were there from the beginning. So should it really be a
surprise that, 20 years later, they’re still summoning up the
frigid and mean-spirited black metal that we’ve all come to savour?
Should it be a surprise that even though they’ve retained that very
sound, one can still hear the signs of the age-wreaked schism that
visits right before the urge to adventure and experiment?
Then
again, is it any surprise that this isn’t the same band that
recorded those early demos? No. That’s because this hate-fueled
machine from Somers Point, New Jersery, has seen more members come
and go over the years than Gene Simmons has seen vagina. About the
only constant within the band has been vocalist Imperial, otherwise
known (on this record in particular) as N. Jameson. Switching to his
real (?) name for this release is quite symbolic of this record’s
maturity.
With
Transient, Krieg are a two-headed serpent. One head represents the
old, the orthodox, the malignant black metal sound carefully crafted
by drunken teenagers under Norway’s frozen moon. On the other head
we have dark ambiance, deep and cavernous soundscapes that haunt the
entire record and subsequently culminate in bizarre, spoken-word
passages that jolt and buzz with noise and feedback. It’s rough
and heavy enough for the sexless, joyless, mountain-dwelling
kvltists, and modern enough for the sexless, joyless, city-dwelling
hipsters.
That
was a joke, by the way. Smile for fuck’s sake.
Transient
eases in with eidolic waves of feedback and alien static before
erupting into a full sonic barrage including cancerous vocals, an
obese drum sound, and forlorn strings that give-way to the odd
headbanger riff here and there. The first few tracks, most notably
‘Return to Fire’ and ‘Atlas with a Broken Arm’, keep the
kettle boiled, and you’re given a warrior’s performance of
cataclysmic metal skulduggery throughout. However, a promise is made
during ‘To Speak with Ghosts’ and comes to fruition during the
second half, as we begin our descent into the outré of the record.
But not before we get our teeth into a cover of Amebix’s ‘Winter’,
which I must admit sounds pretty good considering I’d rather give
myself a facial with a tub of hot wax than listen to Amebix for any
longer than three minutes.
As
previously stated, the second half of this record is batshit insane
as most black metal records go. It isn’t ‘Sigh insane’, but
it’s still delightfully bizarre and atmospheric. ‘Walk With Them
Unnoticed’ elaborates further on the shoegazing element introduced
earlier on in the album, right before snapping back into snarling,
black metal form. ‘Ruin Our Lives’ arrives despondent and
canorous before mutating into a drug-induced wall of digital noise
complete with a slow, resonant drum machine pattern. There really are
a lot of small instances of experimentation, or more accurately the
employment of electronics, towards the end of Transient, and it’s
hard to tell if this is an adventurous move or simply keeping with
the zeitgeist. Album closer, ‘Gospel Hand’, bites back with
vicious fervour after a seven minute and thirty-eight second long
detour into a spoken-word dream sequence titled ‘Home’.
As
stated previously, this record has something for both the fans of
traditional and the new wave of scientists floating around your local
metal boozer. It’s not too ‘out there’, but it’s just odd
enough to stay interesting. It’ll either be a hit, or it’ll send
the Internet forums into a rage-drunk frenzy. Both outcomes are good.
Check
the Band from Links Below
Written
by Liam Doyle
Thanks to Darren at
Candlelight Records for the promo. Transient will be available to buy
from Candlelight Records from 2nd September 2014.
