KVALM - Demo 2012 (ATAVISM Records - MC 2012)
Recently I was slaughtering the flesh of the holy with exceptionally killer cassette of French band called Nefastt, “La Malignité Des Astres” and here is another release from Atavism Records and of corpse it is also another Burgundy band, called Kvalm. “Demo 2012” is their debut release and I was quite curious about it. From the first look at the cassette I liked its austere layout, band’s logo and the artwork… so I hoped that the music wil again be good.
No wonder the band called themselves “nauseous” (but in Norwegian!) as the music is exactly like that – sick, morbid, disgusting, chaotic and hateful. I must admit that this sort of utterly raw and chaotic black metal, which Kvalm has to offer, is not something what I would enjoy totally… at least not as much as I did that Nefastt tape, which I’ve mentioned before. I mean “Demo 2012” is just a little too messy and chaotic for my taste. A lot of that is due to harsh, primitive production, really, as sometimes you can barely hear what the riff is like, especially, when Kvalm speeds up – and they do so quite frequently. Onyx screams his guts out like possessed maniac and the effect is insane! I guess bands like Kvalm are only for the most diehard and dedicated black metal maniacs. Personally – despite listening to this music for so many years – I find it as difficult to really enjoy this particular demo. There are some good moments, exceptionally good riffs, etc, but it is not enough and I’m afraid that Kvalm really needs to improve their songwriting, if they wanna make the better impression. This time the material is just too discordant and cacophonous and it lacks variety as well as good production. More so, the vocals seem to have just been screamed without much thinking and sounding quite loud comparing them to the guitars and drums they often seem to be out of place. I’m far from calling it a shite though, as in few moments Kvalm really caught my attention with some great riffs, like in track “VII” (he, the song titles here are really odd… song number four is called “VII”, song number three is “V”… and the intro, song number one is “VIII”… what the hell???).
So, having difficulty in really finding anything exceptional and as bloodfreezing as the stuff from Nefastt tape (which I repeat is amazing and again I recommend it), I see Kvalm will be rather destined to be labeled as another mediocre black metal band. One, which definitely will spark some interest among the diehard maniacs, as their music does bring some hopes for the future… although I guess the future, which both Kvalm members would like to bring for us is one filled with death and misery. But OK, I must admit that it is really rare recently, when the black metal can really be so disgustingly hateful… So, if you’re into something like this then you may wanna check “Demo 2012”. But if you’re more demanding then search for something different.
Final rate: 55/100
No wonder the band called themselves “nauseous” (but in Norwegian!) as the music is exactly like that – sick, morbid, disgusting, chaotic and hateful. I must admit that this sort of utterly raw and chaotic black metal, which Kvalm has to offer, is not something what I would enjoy totally… at least not as much as I did that Nefastt tape, which I’ve mentioned before. I mean “Demo 2012” is just a little too messy and chaotic for my taste. A lot of that is due to harsh, primitive production, really, as sometimes you can barely hear what the riff is like, especially, when Kvalm speeds up – and they do so quite frequently. Onyx screams his guts out like possessed maniac and the effect is insane! I guess bands like Kvalm are only for the most diehard and dedicated black metal maniacs. Personally – despite listening to this music for so many years – I find it as difficult to really enjoy this particular demo. There are some good moments, exceptionally good riffs, etc, but it is not enough and I’m afraid that Kvalm really needs to improve their songwriting, if they wanna make the better impression. This time the material is just too discordant and cacophonous and it lacks variety as well as good production. More so, the vocals seem to have just been screamed without much thinking and sounding quite loud comparing them to the guitars and drums they often seem to be out of place. I’m far from calling it a shite though, as in few moments Kvalm really caught my attention with some great riffs, like in track “VII” (he, the song titles here are really odd… song number four is called “VII”, song number three is “V”… and the intro, song number one is “VIII”… what the hell???).
So, having difficulty in really finding anything exceptional and as bloodfreezing as the stuff from Nefastt tape (which I repeat is amazing and again I recommend it), I see Kvalm will be rather destined to be labeled as another mediocre black metal band. One, which definitely will spark some interest among the diehard maniacs, as their music does bring some hopes for the future… although I guess the future, which both Kvalm members would like to bring for us is one filled with death and misery. But OK, I must admit that it is really rare recently, when the black metal can really be so disgustingly hateful… So, if you’re into something like this then you may wanna check “Demo 2012”. But if you’re more demanding then search for something different.
Final rate: 55/100
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