Krabathor - Unorthodox / Mortal Memories

KRABATHOR - Unorthodox / Mortal Memories (MAD LION CD 2014 / MONSTER NATION LP 2012 / NASPHYR MLP 2013)

And here’s the second of the two Krabathor CDs, which Mad Lion has re-released. This time “Unorthodox” comes with a great bonus material taken from the “Mortal Memories” EP, what makes it a very good compilation. And luckily, both – “Unorthodox” and “Mortal Memories’ were also released on vinyl! The first one as separate 12” LP by Monster Nation, while the EP was released on killer gatefold 10” vinyl by Nasphyr Records. And guess what... I have all those versions haha! And I can tell you that they sound great. That brutal death metal on the LP sounds fantastic, I think. But again, I am also happy that I have “Orthodox” on CD, as I only had it on tape before, so it was about time to get it in good quality (that old tape sounds shit today haha!), especially as Mad Lion did a good job with this re-release.

I think the more happy I am also because “Orthodox” is my favourite Krabathor album. “Lies” was great also, yes, but it had couple of fillers, while this one is almost perfect. Krabathor was still balancing their music between fast, brutal death metal and slower, kind of groovy playing, which sometimes has even some melodic parts here and there… but the advantage is on the most preferred side – which is brutal fuckin death metal, played in truly vicious and savage way! Yes, this album makes a great impression… And that feeling is bigger with this production, as I think that “Orthodox” has killer sound; it’s aggressive, powerful, slightly raw and bassy, but it’s really heavy production. Every riff cuts like a sharp razor and all together the music creates a massive wall, which – when played loud – turns into really powerful beast. Great!

What I like about Krabathor music is that it does sound brutal and nasty, but it’s still quite memorable and catchy. Such song as “Liquid” is a prime example – fantastic track, with some splendid riffs and it just stays in your head for good. And try to listen to it, without actually banging your skull – impossible! There are several really strong songs here and maybe Krabathor didn’t play the most original or super technical / whatever death metal, but they built their music upon just great, solid riffs and arrangements. We don’t need fireworks, just killer death metal and that’s what “Unorthodox” exactly is. “Liquid” is great, but also such tracks like “To Red Ones” (groovy death metal, better than Six Feet Under ever was!), “Orthodox” or “Parasites”.

Finally there’s also “Mortal Memories”, which contains some old demo songs, re-recorded in 1996. And damn, you can hear the stylistic difference! All in all, these songs were composed in 1988 (!!!!), like “Apocrypha” or “Breath of Death”, so they must have different riffing. They have very thrashing style, sometimes I feel like I was listening to a more brutal version of Sodom haha (also in song called “Total Destruction”, which is another old demo song, in this new version first released as a bonus track on one of the earlier versions of “Unorthodox”)! But the result is again really nice, I like that fuckin “Apocrypha” a lot.

By the way, is it only my imagination or really “Bestial War” begins like good old Sarcofago? Hahaha!

Standout tracks: “Liquid”, “Orthodox”, “Apocrypha”, “To Red Ones”

Final rate: 80/100