Kassogtha: Join The rEvolution
Progressive death metal is arguably one of the most hotly contested genres as every musician is trying to outdo each other with outlandish levels of creative wizardry. Swiss outfit KASSOGTHA have burst out of the underground scene and are hoping to stake their claim with the follow-up to debut A New World To Come entitled rEvolve. A powder-keg full of aggression which pushes their experimentation further than ever before and a release that the band are confident will turn some heads.
“The album is full of surprises,” declares guitarist and main songwriter Morty Baud. “I know we have released two thirds of it already but the more songs we’ve released the more different styles we have shown. I feel like there are still a lot of surprises to come. The album is divided into three chapters and each of them represents a different mood and theme. From anger to depression and coming full circle, a rebirth in some ways. I think the listener will be able to take their own interpretation of the story. It’s like a movie where you can discuss it afterwards.”
rEvolve is a crushing blend of technicality and melody akin to the works of Ukrainian powerhouse JINJER. This comparison is not made lightly and doesn’t just end at their ferocious approach to songwriting. It also references the meticulous craftsmanship which has obviously been poured into this release, from the music right through to the artwork and underlaying thematics. “The moods, themes and lyrics are all represented by the different masks on the album cover. A lot of thought went into these,” explains Morty. “The Infinity is the white mask covered in blood as it’s a pretty explosive song. Before I Vanish is a fusion of two masks as it is the only song where Stephany and myself both sing. After devising the masks we came up with the album cover idea, having a weird creature with nine arms to symbolise each song. The theme fell hand in hand with the material.”
“I wanted to write about a dark period in my life, experiencing anxiety and various emotion,” adds vocalist Stephany Hugnin. “Whilst some might have struggled with this, I really enjoyed it. It was a way to get everything off my chest and exorcise those feelings. We’ve been blown away by the reaction to our songs, we didn’t really know what to expect.” The masks were also cleverly marketed to represent each passing single release prior to the combined design.
Some bands have the crazy ability to be able to rattle off a horde of material in rapid fashion when entering the creative process for a new release, choosing to whittle down their choices as they progress and potentially bank ideas for future material. KASSOGTHA prefer to utilise a more focused, streamlined approach, tweaking and adjusting a select number of tracks until they feel they have crammed as much as they possibly can into each composition. “For this release we really focused on that selection of tracks as opposed to writing a tonne of material,” states Morty. “We really wanted to get into writing mode, being in lockdown certainly helped that. We had no choice! We felt like we poured every drop of ourselves into these songs. It was quite an exhausting process.”
KASSOGTHA are no strangers to the stage, having just recently wrapped up a UK tour as support slot to CELLAR DARLING and are gearing up to hit the road in the new year with the mighty AVATAR. Anyone who is attending these shows might be in for a big surprise. “AVATAR are a party band and are very theatrical so the crowd might get a shock when we get on stage. We may give the impression of a serious sounding band but we are just a bunch of people having fun which may be weird considering the music we play,” admits Morty. “We think it’s important to enjoy yourselves on tour but we are also out there to kick some ass too!”
Whilst still in their infancy with regards to career longevity, the experience and musicianship displayed is that of a fully fledged outfit way beyond their years that have been in the game for decades. The scary prospect is that they are only going to get stronger and more formidable with each passing release. It may be too hasty to begin discussing their future already when this release is still fresh off the press but it will be intriguing to see how KASSOGTHA intend to progress beyond this effort and what direction they will take next. Especially following on from such a personal conceptual vision. rEvolve has set a very high benchmark and time will tell whether they are able to maintain this standard going forward.
rEvolve is out now via Klang Machine Music.
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