If you have some interest in a gasmask clad Chicago black metal outfit which has members of Nacthmystium, Cianide and Dysphoria in its ranks, plying a form of relentlessly simple yet effective, Marduk/Dark Funeral meets Impaled Nazarene styled thrashy black metal, then look no further than Kommandant.
There’s not much more to elaborate on really; 11 songs plus two outros of short sharp, blistering black metal with no frills or filler. The production is tight and has a buzzing, almost industrial, mechanized feel to it, but retains the tremolo fueled, Scandinavian attack of the obvious peers. However, with the benefits of creating that type of sound, comes the downfall of such a sound and that’s while Stormlegion blasts and rasps with a fervent nihilism and vitriol, it lack any real variety of character, thus at 38 minutes in length, its about 10 minutes too long. So by “Social Parasite” you’ve heard everything Stormlegion has to offer.
Also, despite their best effort, Kommandant lack that certain ‘it’ factor that gives the likes of Marduk and Dark Funeral that sheer, nasty factor that leaves you someone breathless at albums end and ultimately sounds like a US band trying ever so hard. Still, the effort has its moments as tracks like the aforementioned “Social Parasite”, thrashy “Siege Engine”, almost melodic “No Compassion”, “Bypaths to Chaos”, “Ravenous Conquest” and the like are ferocious but still tangibly restrained and ultimately sound like a group of crusty Midwesterners trying their hand at a tried and true sound with moderate results.
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Once I saw that this had been reviewed here I was really expected whoever reviewed it to give it a good thrashing. I enjoy this album quite a bit but it unfortunately doesn’t seem to be picking up much good press. Yes it is simple and adheres quite rigidly to a formula but that isn’t always a bad thing. I would argue a vast percentage of metal falls squarely into the category of strictly following a set of guidelines with minimal deviation. In any case for what this band does they do it very well, the drumming in particular! Guy reminds me of the drummers from Martial Barrage or Sanguis Imperem in his ability to create a powerful militant cadence that really drives the songs as opposed to your garden variety regular blast beats. Not flawless and it does get a bit repetitive but a solid and worthwhile album nonetheless.
on Mar 9th, 2009 at 16:51