Kratornas - Official Website


Pestilence

Philippines Country of Origin: Philippines

Pestilence
Send eMail
Buy on: Bandcamp
Type: Demo
Release Date: July 20th, 2020
Label: Independent
Genre: Black, Grindcore
1. Dark Days Of The Soul
3. Naprzód Donikąd!
4. High On Hate
5. Man Of Dark Secrets
6. The Void Is Where The Heart Is
7. War Is Certain, Peace Is Not
8. Hailing The Devil In Me
1. Three Unclean Spirits
2. On Dying Aeons
3. Darkness And Dust

Review by Felix on February 14, 2020.

Poland is, we all know it, a hotbed for soul-devastating, belligerent sounds and Voidhanger's third album presents a compact overdose of nastiness, malignancy and disgust. It's recommended to all freaks who like the infamous, crusted and mostly ingenious Driller Killer. And those who do not know Driller Killer (inexcusable mistake!) but love to be ugly. Enough said?

No, definitely not. The eight pieces deserve a more detailed description, because the band does not lack energy and determination. Don't be fooled by the almost poetic title Dark Days of the Soul. Sensitiveness is not among the core competences of the angry three-piece. Quite the opposite, they mix more or less all types of extreme metal - thrash, death, black metal, crustcore - in order to offer a nonconformist cocktail of (non-chaotic) noise. Thunderous guitars, just listen to the beginning of "High on Hate", characterize the compositions during the entire playtime of nearly 34 minutes.

Voidhanger do not take a breather and, even though they do not focus on consistent high-velocity outbursts, they see no reason to shift into a lower gear. The drummer works like a berserk on parole. Needless to mention that the lead vocalist sounds like a barking dog that misses its breakfast.

However, sometimes the musical understanding shimmers through all these violent elements. Exactly this feature is necessary in order to prevent a monotonous noise session. Fans of Terrorizer know the difference between a hellish vortex of brutality ("World Downfall") and an emotionless attack of raucous guitars (broad parts of their later works). I freely admit that the encompassing genius of early Terrorizer remains unrivaled, but Voidhanger have written coherent, substantial and pretty varied tunes that do not lack competitiveness. Although they mostly deliver a thunderstorm of violence, they allow themselves to integrate a few desperate, morbid and hopeless sequences that embody the Dark Days of the Soul in a suitable way. Better still, the album does not suffer from any kind of fillers and it grows with every new spin. Even the stomping closer does not fall by the wayside. Instead, it makes the output complete in a very expressive manner. Its heavyweight riffing serves as final proof that this band does not make lukewarm compromises. So, dive into their world of acoustic terror, if you are one of those dudes who like it ugly. By the way, you will meet me there.

Rating: 8 out of 10

  Views

Review by Alex on July 19, 2020.

A hidden gem unearthed, what a fucking demo! There better be a full-length album in the works, because I don't think this will be enough to satiate my wanton desire for black/grind done right! Where has this band been all the time, can't be that they've been hiding all this time on purpose, I don't believe it, a two-man squad that'd march straight through a full sextet. Heavy as an aircraft carrier, Kratornas convoke 3 storms of Satanic might on their 2020 demo titled Pestilence.

It really does sound like being attacked by endless swarms of hungry locusts. Each bite more murderous than the last, yet only a taste of Kratornas' fury stored away in some sigil sealed vault, this demo epitomizes perfection in the black/grind subgenre. A carnivorous assault, a cry of beckoning devastation, instruments deliver a smiting blow of dark occult acidic precipitation; an unholy carbonic slime from a black/death/grind kraken upheaved.

The torment is everlasting, as a foul awakening is fetched by the first track, an evil natured explosion titled 'Darkness and Dust'. Contaminating the atmosphere with insidious 1st wave black metal vocals and gutsy guitar rhythms alongside an unrestrained drumming technic, the crushing-tectonic weight of the band is felt and remains active. 'On Dying Aeons' is a victorious war march through the subgenre, fast and raw with a severity amplified through a blast beat brigade and one twisted gravity-blast. However, its most monstrous moment arrives on the final tablet of terror, 'Three Unclean Spirits' that merges specific highlights of Pestilence such as the bold hammering of the snare, the rhythmic complexity of the guitaring and the vocal vehemence heard from the onset.

After hearing Pestilence, an immediate visit to Kratornas' earlier work was made and damn, even though carrying a miserable production as heard on The Onslaught of Battle Demons, the atmosphere they were able to create is bloody wretched and the music itself just matched the inhuman vocals heard. Thus, said I hope Kratornas can follow-up Pestilence with something of that sort but with a better produced varnish and in full length form, 34 minutes or so.

Pestilence appears to be the warning strokes for something more sacreligious to come from perhaps one of the best kept secrets in metal and that of black/death/grind/War, Kratornas!

Rating: 8.7 out of 10

  Views