ALBUM REVIEW: For The Dead Travel Fast – Kadavar
Back with their fifth record For The Dead Travel Fast, three piece psychedelic rockers KADAVAR have a notoriously classic sound that harps to some of the greats of the genre. With big expectations from old fans and new, what does KADAVAR have in store on this creation?
Quite literally, we begin at The End, wherein a haunting voice calls out over the ambience of a desolate wind. There’s an instant feel of seventies weirdness here, and the disjointed feel to the chords that spatter here and there adds to the tension as we build into The Devil’s Master. The story unfolds as the motion of the driven guitar chugs, giving way to a growling bassline. Once married together, these the pair create a tension that satisfyingly gives way to crashing drums and big riffs. The rise and fall of the track is pretty well done and really pulls you into a terrifying world of psychedelic unknown. The guitar cries out beautifully as the song draws to a close, giving way into the next song masterfully.
As unlikely as it sounds, Evil Forces is upbeat and energetic, producing a dirty blues driven sound much like JEFFERSON AIRPLANE or RUBY THE HATCHET. There are tonnes of grungy depth to balance the psychedelic vocals, and the trippy solos to make the pacing feel natural and deliberate.
Children of the Night holds the same tone, but adds more synth and modulation to create the broad, unnerving feel to the endless build up, the pay off for which is a ridiculous key tumble that is both hilarious and pretty bold. There’s a late BEATLES experimentation coming through here, just seeing what works and what direction that could lead to. The result is a fair track that will really resonate with fans of classic rock and surrealist ideas.
Dancing With The Dead has just as much seventies character as the rest of the record, and will set itself as a good example of a melancholy classic rock theme, with decent dynamics and with a big break out folk/blues solo. However, does get a little self-indulgent in its nostalgia that it doesn’t add much weight to the album overall.
Poison is a big fuzzy number, through and through; a harmony of fuzzy voices calling over a fuzzy guitar, a deep fuzzy bass and a crashing drum; It’s so fuzzed up, it’s practically furry. The texture is completely of an era gone by, with the moments of silence permeated with the delayed echo of the movement. Once the one tone shout singing gives way, a shift in tone to slightly cleaner allows for a slightly monotonous solo to break through. Overall, there’s enough enjoy, but perhaps one to listen to every so often, and not the stand out work on this album.
The guitar hook of Demons In My Mind wah’s through a crashing drum, and thankfully there’s enough space to hear the bassline clearly again, while a more spacey reverb spans out the vocals across the piece. It’s another decent effort, with a big feel and a good sense of direction. Things mature into a heavier sound, before coming around to a layered classic sound to conclude. You can tell that the shift in the motions is more of a journey through musical ideas rather than just rock by numbers.
Saturnales is much more sombre, as an atmospheric drone runs under the melody of a single guitar, crackling like old records might. Things peak a little, but it adds a little old school charm to the approach. It’s another indulgent track, but you can almost forgive it for its dedication to a stargazing past we’ve lost in our modern life.
At just over seven minutes long, there’s a double meaning for Long Forgotten Song, though perhaps not an intentional one. For such a length, we would expect this to be the amalgamation of all that For The Dead Travel Fast has offered. However, while there are parts that one their own aren’t an issue, it’s a pacing problem that takes this to a disappointing end. Some of it’s better qualities are a quiet, contemplative that rises in tension into a colourful story with plenty of imagery to conjure in your mind as the melody swoops around and plummets into a dark and menacing trudge. However, there’s no big moment that pulls everything together, with back to back, and unfortunately slightly generic drum and guitar solos meandering along. By the time the track ends, it’s not well paced passion you feel, but more a plodding boredom.
KADAVAR have a clear understanding of how to make a great, powerful record, and there were high hopes with such a promising start to For The Dead Travel Fast. However, the self-indulgent side of classic rock and psychedelic sounds can go one of two ways. This time, instead of being consistently inspired and inspiring, it’s occasionally meandering and doesn’t add much to the conversation. With such a huge heritage of bands from nearly fifty years of music, coupled with four previous albums, by this point the expectation on KADAVAR is much higher, and it just doesn’t reach.
Rating: 6/10
For The Dead Travel Fast is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.
Like KADAVAR on Facebook.