For Week Ending:
30 November 2024
Hand Of Kalliach - Corryvreckan (2024)
[Death Metal (Melodic)]
The melodic death metal style has grown over the years, and morphed into a multi-headed hydra that may strike in many ways. As an analogy, a multi-headed hydra also works for the band Hand Of Kalliach. It is hard to nail them to one particular death metal style, but of the many heads this beast has, beauty is surprisingly one of them. Corryvreckan starts out quiet and builds slowly, and by mid first track 'Three Seas' is a symphonic cacophony. The band is a Scottish husband and wife duo, with haunting female vocals ethereally drifting across the music regardless of its force. This is on full display on 'Fell Reigns', with the growled gravel vocals offset by the beauty of the disembodied female voice. The guitar backing is crushingly heavy, but Scottish folk motives are played throughout giving this a timeless feeling. By 'Dioghaltas' the listener thinks they have this album nailed, but a brutally heavy straight up death metal track blasts that idea away, and yet somewhere buried in the mix those Scottish folk tunes are still playing away. It is an album that is hard to decipher at first, and constantly surprises (or maybe disappoints) as it twists and weaves through unpredictable timing changes and a mixture of styles. By track 6, it sounds like the album has found its heavy groove, but then 'The Hubris Of Prince Bhreacan' veers the ship toward the rocky waters of an almost gothic rock style, its serenity interrupted abruptly by the demonic growls. Although the album is heavily symphonic in places, it certainly isn't light in the slightest - with most of it brutally heavy and foreboding. It is a punishing listen in one sitting, and will require multiple listens to really sink in with even the final track 'Of Twilight And The Pyre' starting out pleasant but ending the album in a wall of brutal noise. This album won't be for everyone, and even hardened death metal veterans may struggle with the female backing and passages of serenity, but for those who do connect with it, it is a totally rewarding listen.
Arist Information Hand Of Kalliach is a Scottish folk / death metal band formed by husband and wife Sophie and John Fraser. The sound is a blend of Gaelic and Celtic overtones from Scottish folk music with a very metal foundation. Release Information 'Corryvreckan' is the second album by husband / wife duo Hand Of Kalliach.
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