Keep Of Kalessin - Kolossus review
| Band: | Keep Of Kalessin |
| Album: | Kolossus |
| Style: | Melodic black metal |
| Release date: | June 2008 |
01. Origin
02. A New Empire's Birth
03. Against The Gods
04. The Rising Sign
05. Warmonger
06. Escape The Union
07. The Mark Of Power
08. Kolossus
09. Ascendant
It is time to unleash hell once more as Keep Of Kalessin return with their follow-up to the hugely popular "Armada" with an even more malevolent, heroic and grand offering of chaos in the form of the suitably titled "Kolossus". Keep Of Kalessin evoke hell and bring it to earth once more with a battalion of demons providing musical pandemonium, and a wing of succubi to hold a melodic backing to it all. This is inspired music indeed and although not unique within the world of black metal, it is another much needed breath of fresh air to the festering mass of black metal of recent years.
Keep Of Kalessin bring an almost progressive element to their already melodic but ferocious black metal. This is seemingly the result of Enslaved and Emperor's sneaky copulation they didn't tell anyone about from a drunken back-alley fumble from the dark days of past. "Kolossus" brings together the progressive style Enslaved have adopted as of recent years and mashes it together with both the melody and sheer epic proportions Emperor created with their music. So many times melodic black metal bands can become so diluted and wishy-washy, but Keep Of Kalessin are here poignant and both melodic and extreme, not to mention how aggressive and diverse the album is at the same time. An amazing blast from "A New Empire's Birth" and "Against The Gods" compared to the slightly quirky but still blastbeat-laden "Warmonger" and the absolute grandeur and epicness of the title track "Kolossus" and "Ascendant" to close the album with such an atmosphere of legends. The whole album has the Keep Of Kalessin stamp all over it, it is all intelligent, beautiful and destructive music with complex and devious guitar riffs, at times mind-blowingly fast blastbeats and double bass, and also varied vocals ranging from both harsh but not raspy, to clean and even at times soft such as in the opening of "The Mark Of Power" while at all times remaining comprehendible.
This colossal album is in an exclusive category of albums that are entertaining, interesting and highly enjoyable to listen to, and with it Keep Of Kalessin have just raised the bar on the whole black metal scene with this masterful piece of work. It is rare that an album be so diverse and pushes all the boundaries, and still have the entire thing be so captivating and consistently good. The almost death metal title track and majestic last track "Ascendant" are guaranteed to melt your icy blackened hearts and send a shiver down your spine, this is almost as good as this kind of music can get. Keep Of Kalessin have once again risen up from the masses and risen up from hell to offer some of the best music they have ever created that is surely destined to become a classic.
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Comments: 39
Visited by: 354 users
| Valaskjalf Account deleted |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
This is an even bigger letdown than Armada, at least Armada still had good songs on it, whihc were however spoiled by the overporduction. On Kolossus not even the songs have any saving power. A mere 6/10 this time around. Albums such as this and Armada once again show that a clear sound isn't everything, especially within a genre such as black metal. Overproduction just takes the bite away, leaving us with a toothless cheetah, scary at first look, but a big joke once it tries to roar and impose 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Hembrom Diabolic Priest Posts: 1388  |
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| enumaelis Posts: 266  |
Written by Guest on 06.06.2008 at 01:25 Completely agree. Even with the rating. I had a deception when listening to Kolossus, and I tried it several times.
---- http://enumaelis.blogspot.com/
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| Vermin Posts: 54  |
I haven't listened to Kolossus yet, but Armada is an amazing album. I own it on 180g Double Vinyl, but lately I've had to download it instead, because I was afraid I'd wear down the Records. Btw, does anyone see the similarities between this album cover, and the cover for the video game Oblivion?  Oblivion cover: http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1143232181-00.jpg
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| skrätte I Hate You Posts: 78  |
I am a huge Keep of Kalessin fan. Armada quickly became one of my favorite albums upon my first listening of it and it remained there, right up top as one of my favorite albums. So, that said, I didn't expect to like Kolossus as much as I do. I really had to go into my initial listening of Kolossus with an objective perspective. I had to try not to listen to it while comparing it to Armada the entire time. On its own, this album is strong and heavy and totally Keep of Kalessin. Next to Armada, it's got some different elements, but it is still a tough album. Is it as good as Armada? My jury is still out on that, but I am still not the least bit disappointed with this release. I would wholeheartedly agree with this review, for what it's worth. Kolossus is worth every bit of the 9.0 rating it has at the time of this reply, in my opinion. An excellent band. Another excellent album.
---- 
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| Sepulchre Lord Hypnos Posts: 189  |
Written by Vermin on 06.06.2008 at 22:21 Lol, it does look quite similar... 
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15250  |
wow, based on baz's score and the subsequent disagreement i will definitely have to check it out. they played a couple tracks from this album when opening for Behemoth/DB and they sounded (to my scotch-soaked ears) to be about in-line with "ARMADA", which i thoroughly enjoy. it might not be boundary blasting, but it is a solid album... and I hope "Kolossus" is in the ballpark.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Jason W. Razorbliss Staff Posts: 3523  |
I'm really disappointed with this album in so many ways. The vocals take away any possibility of my enjoying the riffs beneath them. Of course, there aren't many riffs worth caring about anyway, so maybe the terrible vocals don't matter at all. "Armada" had a production that made the music sound plastic; this album's production make it seem like the music's soul is being bled out. I'm not sure where this band is headed, but I doubt I'll be keeping track of them if this is the direction they think is interesting... sorry, I just can't agree with the review  I could barely keep myself awake during "Against The Gods"...
---- "After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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| Damnated Churchburner Posts: 4943  |
it's very dry and uninteresting. the riffs are just hollow in a bad way and the vocals really annoy me. i've fallen asleep during listening, but from what i've heard this album is average at best.
---- Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men.  Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01
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| Doc G. Full Grown Hoser Staff Posts: 9718  |
Well, nobody seems to like it, but I can usually trust Baz's reviews. Either way I'll end up getting it. But I sure hope Baz is right.
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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| AMonitorDarkly Posts: 43  |
I think Keep of Kalessin is an intriguing band however, one thing that has always bugged me is that the vocals are, at times, not as heavy as they could or should be and unfortunately this flaw is exceedingly prevalent in Kolussus whereas it remained an occasional annoyance in previous work.
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| skrätte I Hate You Posts: 78 |
Written by Doc G. on 08.06.2008 at 23:12 I loved it! I am still loving it, even after multiple listenings. Not sure where all the bad reviews are coming from, but that is the nature of individual taste, I suppose. Armada will always be at the top of my Keep of Kalessin list unless they find a way to top it, of course.
----
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13237  |
The people that are not saying good things about this album are falling into the trap of comparing it with everything else; the band's past albums and such. If you just listen to this album for what it is, this is a great great album.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Baz Anderson on 09.06.2008 at 15:38 Okay so you are accusing me, amongst other people, of falling into the same trap you fell in with Cryptopsy and to a lesser extent In Flames? 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13237 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 09.06.2008 at 15:42 Haha, In Flames - no, that album was just bad bad bad whoever it would have been that put it out. Cryptopsy, well it's impossible to not have their past albums in the corner of your mind considering what the new album is like. Hahahaha, I gave them both a fair review though - the new Cryptopsy does have its moments and is what it is.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Baz Anderson on 09.06.2008 at 15:51 That also applies for KoK and their past albums in the corner of your mind just makes you realize they started going downhill with Amrada and have only slipped further into the morass of overproduced slick sounding biteless cringeworthy Billboard black metal. Hell even comparable to modernday Dimmu Borgir in that sense. The new KoK is just a mediocre album all round, right up there with Maiden's A Matter Of Life And Death, latest Craddle Of Filth releases, latest Machine Head, latest Dimmu Borgir. latest Dream Theater etc. etc.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13237 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 09.06.2008 at 15:56 Well they are on Nuclear Blast.. maybe that is why you mostly never agree with my reviews, because they all pretty much all new Nuclear Blast ones. hahaha. Nuclear Blast try and sell records, so I guess that affects the albums they put out in terms of production, etc. - if the production was a little crusty on this album I think some people would just love it.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Baz Anderson on 09.06.2008 at 16:06 The only ones on Nuclear Blast are KoK and Dimmu Borgir  If the production on the last two KoK's was a bit dirtier I would indeed have enjoyed it more because a dirtier production is what the music needs. So the sterile production they have now is non-fitting and hence a crappy production.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13237 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 09.06.2008 at 17:22 I'm not on about the list of bands you mentioned there, I am on about my reviews in general - and why you don't seem to like it when I say they are good. hahaha Yeh, a dirtyer production probably would have been good, but this production doesn't really take anything away from the music I don't think..
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| CrypticMyth Metal Scientist Posts: 2154  |
I enjoyed this album quite a bit. Good stuff.
---- "You're all the same, the lot of you, with your long hair and faggot clothes. Drugs, sex, every sort of filth. And you hate the police, don't you? You make it easy."
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| Dewil Rituale Posts: 19  |
sounds good
---- Indoctrinated minds so very often Contain sick thoughts And commit most of the evil they preach against
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| Dangerboner Lactation Cnslt Posts: 7262  |
The production sucks, not because it's too clear, but because the guitars aren't there. That, along with the half-assed vocals, are my biggest problems with Kolossus. I really hate this band...
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| Doc G. Full Grown Hoser Staff Posts: 9718 |
Baz's reviews prove to be in my taste yet again! Just got it last night and I love it! Best album of 2008 for me so far. My only complaints is the bass drum sound, occasionally it will completely cut through everything else and it doesn't fit at some times like at the end of 'The Rising Sign'.
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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| Hyvaarin Posts: 1487  |
I fucking LOVE this album, and it's pretty much cemented Keep of Kalessin's position as my favourite non-Priest band. If I was a (hugely) more talented guitarist/songwriter, this is the exact album I'd want to write. Current favourite - The Mark of Power.
---- "Summoned By Words Never Spoken Before..."
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| pyrz Posts: 88 |
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