lista zespołów Black Death Kratornas The Corroding Age of Wounds

It took Kratornas some time to achieve some decent exposure. After a bunch of demos, things seemed to pick up some speed for Bruno. There was a split LP with Balberith and a debut and now it seems he’s gained enough momentum to be signed on one of Black Metal's most respected label: Kneel Before The Master's Throne.

If you’re not too familiar with Kratornas, you might think of them as rather representative of the South-Eastern Asian scene. While the first recordings were very similar to bands like Haine Noire with that distinctive crackling sound with almost industrial accents, this Corroding Age Of Wounds seems to be the album of maturity for Bruno.

Few Black Metal fans had really accepted the overwhelming solos featured on Kratornas’ debut. It seemed at the time that Bruno wanted to show off except that Black Metal does not need guitar heroes. Especially if those said guitar heroes are one-man bands... Such demonstrations had almost discouraged most potential fans but the man honed his skills and learned to put out some proper songs. This is especially true now with his latest offering.

Yes, there are still some of those solos but all in all they’re better integrated within the songs and they don’t look like “oh man, look how nice I play”. The Corroding Age of Wounds is also a lot more thrashy than its predecessors and it makes for a good experience.

While the singing could be reminiscent of Immortal on drugs, the music is very much typical of that scene and you'll find many similarities with bands like Istidraj or even Sadiztik Impaler.

I only have two concerns regarding this album which I must voice out. Though I’m not fully allergic to drum programming, this looks like a half-ass attempt especially for the most furious and fastest parts of the record. Too much is too much and if Bruno can’t find a proper drummer for his music, I’d suggest he’d fine-tune that programming to be more acceptable. Also, while all the songs develop something of their own, it wouldn't have hurt the album to be a bit shorter. No need to elaborate for 7 or 8 minutes on the same two riffs. We get the picture.

It’s a good album. It could have been great if it was kept concise but looking at Kratornas’ evident progression, I’m pretty confident that the next one will kick even more ass.