ALBUM REVIEW: Gates Of Muspel – Karmanjaka
Sweden’s KARMANJAKA may only be a relatively new act, but they’ve already managed to make a sizeable impression with their music. Their blend of black metal combined with a noticeable heavy metal influence has not only helped build them a cult following, but distinguished them a little bit from many of their contemporaries in Sweden, being incredibly melodic and catchy even for a nation that’s renowned for producing melodic and catchy metal of all forms. Their latest and third album, Gates Of Muspel, is perhaps their best and most imaginative record to date, and could very well be a solid early contender for black metal album of the year.
Gates Of Muspel is a razor sharp start to proceedings, with speed-driven guitars, coarse vocals and precise drums punctuated by glorious, melodic leads and epic chanted backing vocals amongst the harsher elements and providing a bombastic edge. It’s an impressive start to the record that immediately demands the listener’s attention. Ancient Aeon takes the heavy metal undercurrent of its predecessor and amplifies it, with excellent guitar work and chunky rhythms giving this a catchier sound. It proves to be an anthemic affair with lots of great musicianship, and there’s only really the acidic snarl of the vocals to anchor it within black metal.
Draug takes the virtuosic guitar hooks to new heights, with the leads being perhaps the most polished so far. The intricacy of the drumming and forceful vocal approach add lots of great moments, but it’s ultimately the soaring guitar work on here that helps elevate this song. Sorcerer King is another fantastic piece of music that wears its classic heavy metal and neoclassical influences proudly on its sleeve, with the guitars once again acting as a brilliant focal point. The hellish vocal howls and angelic cleans add a lot of character too, with the two extremes complementing each other exceptionally to show that this band are every bit as grandiose as they are lethal.
Amongst The Waves is a slow burner which utilises cleaner tones and possesses a darker feel, peppering the hair-raising riffs with measured, brooding sections and spartan bass and drum performances, allowing the vocals to take a central role. It’s a song that is every bit as monumental as the four tracks that preceded it, but in a distinctly bleaker fashion, making it stand out for the best reasons. Anti-Godess is frenetic and urgent by contrast, having a tight sound littered with discordant flourishes and bursts of chaotic intensity that counterpoint the punchy hooks well. Of all the songs on the record, this is easily the closest to a full throttle extreme metal assault, albeit with a pronounced classic metal flavour.
Sculpting The Heavens takes the music to borderline power metal territories, with the vocals again being the only thing to remind the listener that this is a black metal record. Much like on all the other songs, but here especially, the stark contrast between the polished music and the grating roars works perfectly, and only serves to accentuate how impressive the both sides of the band’s sound are. Fenrir manages to make the most of its near-ten-minute length in order to fill this final monolithic track with a generous dose of riffs, tempos changes and approaches to guitar playing and vocals. It ensures that the album’s climactic effort provides a fitting send off, bringing in much of what has made this such an exceptional record.
Whether it’s the short and punchy opening tracks or the four behemoths that bring it to a close, this is a far more catchy and accessible record that many other black metal albums. This is due mostly to the extremely melodic approach to the guitar playing, and the tight and crisp sound of the the rhythms and the production overall. The grit in this album lies in the vocals, and a few components thrown in throughout the album, meaning that there are more than enough visceral moments in there to keep your average black metal fan listening. As a whole, this is a fantastic record, easily the best full-length from KARMANJAKA so far, and easily one of the more engrossing and memorable black metal records of very recent times.
Rating: 9/10
Gates Of Muspel is out now via Grind To Death Records.
Like KARMANJAKA on Facebook.