EP REVIEW: When the Moon Sang Our Songs – Krolok
KROLOK are quickly carving out a respectable cult following within the atmospheric black metal scene, with their debut album, Flying Above Ancient Ruins, finally being released towards the end of last year. They’re a band that have, since their formation in 2011, coupled the raw, aggressive edge of early black metal with truly epic keyboard compositions in a way that very few bands within the sub-genre are able to adequately pull off. Having said that, they have always been a band that does an excellent job of bridging the gap between the old school sound and grandiose motifs. For evidence, looking no further than the bands 2014 debut demo, When the Moon Sang Our Songs. All of the elements that make this band great are there in embryonic form, and with it being re-released on Infernus Profundis Records, there’s no better time to delve back into KROLOK‘s more primal origins.
The record’s opening track is a short piece of sparse, atmospheric music that layers on the tension and gradually builds towards the album proper. It’s incredibly short, but it does a great job of creating a dark and foreboding atmosphere that sets the listener up nicely for the rest of the record. Ride the Roan Road is an incredibly raw track, with buzz-saw guitar riffs and punishing drumming blending together and making a vicious, cacophonous backdrop to the arid, discordant vocals. There are some more measured and ethereal moments within this song that slows the music down to a more mid-tempo pace, without losing any of the oppressive bleakness of the music. At times, it is hard to make some of the finer points of the music out, due to the rawness of the production, but there are plenty of great hooks peppered throughout this song, with some experimental, almost psychedelic elements making their way in as the track comes to its final moments. The album’s third track, a cover of CARPATHIAN FOREST‘s When Thousand Moons Have Circled, is a fairly faithful rendition to the original, capturing all the the dense, powerful riffs, brilliant atmospheric elements and excellent vocals, only with a decidedly more primal and visceral edge. It certainly sits well with the rest of the record, and the performance on all fronts is easily on par with the original version, if not exceeding it ever so slightly.
The Violet Castle in the Sky is a truly chaotic, dissonant piece of music, with tight, rhythmic drumming, robust guitar hooks and hellish vocal deliveries. It showcases a much more frenzied and eclectic side of KROLOK‘s sound, with the guitars and drums in particular containing plenty of great musicianship. It shifts from far more demented, speed driven sections through to motifs that practically move at glacial pace, and this helps to maintain the listener’s attention throughout and illustrate the variety of sounds and styles this band are capable of; from dark, traditional black metal through to the sublime ambient pieces that come towards the tracks climactic moments. This is a monolithic track that proves to be one of the better offerings on the entire demo. The fifth and final track, Cosmic Rituals, makes great use of atmospheric elements to create a menacing aura immediately, imbuing this track with an otherworldly and hypnotic feel that it’s hard not to get captivated by. It’s fairly minimalistic, and slowly ebbs and flows throughout, as if the track is building to something that never truly arrives. These sort of sparse compositions and ethereal ambient tones do a great job of bringing this album to a close on a high note.
This is a really solid record that showcases a band with a lot of promise and evident talent. This demo has everything that a good black metal demo should have; a raw production, frenzied musicianship and foreboding atmosphere, all coming together to create some oppressively dense and interesting music. With hindsight, it’s easy to see that KROLOK have gone from strength to strength with each new record, and it’s good to go back to this demo and see just how much their sound has evolved and changed in a mere four years. To go from releasing this very demo, limited to just 24 copies, to now making waves in the wider black metal scene, they have progressed impressively in just a few short years. If you like your black metal so raw that it could give you food poisoning, solid, bleak guitar hooks and sharp acidic vocals, then this is a record that you need to check out.
Rating: 8/10
When The Moon Sang Our Songs is out now via Inferna Profundus Records.
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