Armada

Keep of Kalessin is somewhat of a hidden gem in the Norwegian black metal scene or even a trump card if you can put it this way. Having walked the winter fields of Trondheim since for seventeen years now and known many line-up changes during this period of time, they have been notably remarked in 2003 when they put out their Reclaim EP with legends such as Attila Csihar from Mayhem and Frost from Satyricon. New players came to play as well such as Vyl on the drums, Thebon on vocals and Wizziac on bass. Obsidian C. and his brainchild were rejuvenated from that point on. This transformation went full force in 2006 and their third full-length album Armada. For those of you who are more familiarized with their successor albums Kolossus (2008) and more recently, Reptilian (2010), this album was to be the beginning of a new era not just for Keep of Kalessin, but for black metal as well.

After the short instrumental intro “Surface”, the riffs begin to emerge in an array of pulsating, yet effective rhythmic structure, which collapses itself into the next track “Crown of the Kings”; a track mostly characterized by its thunderous blasts and eye-piercing, fierce riffs. The melodic pace of this song is absolutely phenomenal. It never lets out, nor weakens. It breaks everything into millions of pieces and takes your breath away immediately after hearing the first minute. What is most remarkable is Thebon’s versatile approach to his vocals, going from a raucous shout to an insane array of shrieks and a proper Chris Barnes-101 guttural sound. He sounds more like a depraved warrior than an isolated misanthrope. This song packs plenty of Emperor-like majestic variety and Immortal-ized ferocity and atmosphere, tempo-wise as well as blast-beat wise. Speaking of which, the tempo changes are immense and I mean, IMMENSE!!! Obsidian C. has a lot of tricks up his sleeves and can play with an arsenal of impressive rhythms, sweeps and leads all the way until the end.

“Vengeance Rising” and “Into the Fire” contain more intensity and aggression than the track mentioned above; the former having a more tumultuous assault and a strident pace whilst the latter is more poignant and calculated, keeping somewhat an harmonious touch throughout the entirety of this song and a contrast between the sonic fury of death metal and the tremolo assaults of black metal. “Many Are We” could easily be mistaken for a new Slayer song with Vyl’s thrashing play, Obsidian C’s turbulent riffs and Thebon’s increasingly menacing shouts and growls. Nevertheless, it explodes into pure violence nearly a minute and a half and then, shifts back into furious thrash. The pace, once again, never dies and constantly changes. “Winged Watcher” takes a step back and plays a bit with symphonic arrangements by introducing a small portion of keyboards and impressive grooves, complemented by more vicious rolls and intense, sharp riffs. It’s also a bit unorthodox and unpredictable by its numerous changes and its short, yet memorable leads at the end, kind of like Iron Maiden meets Dungeons and Dragons.

After the second instrumental track, characterized by a frozen atmosphere and subtle riffs, “Deluge”, the two final tracks make way for all the fury that this band has keeping for the ending for Armada. “The Wealth of Darkness” is a bit of a resemblance to “Crown of the Kings”, but with a sound more akin to death metal with the eternal, repetitive blast beats, the swift hurricane-like riffs and the anthem-like feel of the song as a whole. “Armada” ends the record in a satisfying manner with its walled-up, scorched riffs and the illustrious, impactful drumming. It feels as if you are in a battle and reaching your final hours as a living being on this planet, deciding your fate in this battle that ends all battles, a sort of Ragnarök allusion if you will.

Nevertheless, the best track on this album for me is “The Black Uncharted” and traces the future blueprints which the band will respectively follow in the next few years, introducing new elements into play in their consistent, yet harsh pace, like clean vocals accompanying scattered blast-beats, the omnipresence of the bass, even more obvious than before and most of all, an acoustic intermission taken from the book of flamenco and jazz, after nearly two and a half minutes. It’s almost as if Opeth went pony-trekking on a precipitous mountain.

To conclude, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Keep of Kalessin’s “old” sound and want to look further back at how it all begin or simply for those who have an unknown acquaintance with extreme metal (death, black or thrash for that matter), Armada is a great recipe. It is a starting point for what’s to come in their consistent and unique sound.

Note : 80/100

This is the sound of the new era of black metal! KoK have been around for over 15 years, but few of those old school BM bands have dared to wander off from their raw, dirty, furious sound. Believe me, this still kicks rectum and could easily tear down a brick wall. But with flawless production, and even melody and progressive elements that borders to the theatrical, you're destined to be tagged a sell-out. Hardcore BM fans might moan about these blasphemous elements, but I'm sure they'll be humming on Crown of the Kings and banging their head when nobody's looking.

There is no stand out track on this album, as they will all take your breath away, track after track battling each other off for your attention. The most "shocking" track might be The Black Uncharted with its acoustic intermission.

As the album cover suggests, this album is filled with inspiration of war. Each song is a chapter in this story of "The Armada" and its fight for power, drawing closer to the glorious victory in the last song, the title track. The lyrics are short, concise and a bit diffuse at times, but it's still easy to follow the story. Well done!

I'm very confident when I call this the new BM era. While keeping the spirit of old blackness alive, the raw, brutal anger and fury, they manage to incorporate so much more to their music without losing credibility. At the same time they make black metal a lot more accesible and with this album I'm sure they've gained a whole new generation of followers, not just for themselves, but to the whole genre. Thank you, brave vikings, for opening our eyes and broadening our minds!

A common complaint for people who are new to the genre of black metal is that the production sounds like the microphone was swallowed by a cat. More often than not, only the more symphonic BM bands have quality production values, but here is a fine mix of the two, attacking black metal, with great production.

Despite forming in 1993 (a time when the second wave of black metal was at its strongest), Keep Of Kalessin have only recently come to the attention of the metal community. You probably couldn't find an album like Through Times Of War for sale anywhere other than the band or label's site. Now I can find a copy of Armada sitting comfortably in my local HMV.

There's a reason why.

After a rather non-existant short intro, the band kicks off with some very fresh sounding metal. The very beginning of Crown Of Kings actually has a little Opeth feel to it, particularly in the leads, but then it returns to black metal. The vocal style is very good, nothing like the standard high-pitched rasp of black metal (though Thebon can certainly pull them off), instead replaced with a tough shouty sound (and occasionally vocals resembling gutturals). Progressive tendencies are found in some tracks, with some rather long songs (for black metal, at least), and very epic leads, I notice, sometimes reminding me of Dream Theater, sometimes of Mayhem.

One thing which sometimes sticks in the back of your mind when listening to Armada is the bass, which you don't normally listen for in a black metal CD, but here the backbone of some songs take settlement in your head, and may not leave for a long time. Winged Watcher displayss this perfectly.

For some reason well produced extreme metal CDs always bring out the drums, and I am very glad of this because the Keep's drummer is insanely good. Very consistent, he adds some excellent touches in the music (in particular the background cymbals in the acoustic break of The Black Uncharted), but doesn't distract from the melodies, as some metal drummers do.

Overall a fantastic album, brutal, fast but also subtly beautiful, the only real complaint I have is a little familiarity between songs, which isn't pulled off in the way something like Darkthrone's seminal album Transilvanian Hunger does, but just overdoes some sounds (I think some of it is down to the rhythm guitar work, I mean, listen to the intros of Crown Of Kings and The Wealth Of Darkness!). Standout tracks are Winged Watcher, The Black Uncharted and the title track.

The artwork of this release already makes a strong statement about what to expect; epic black metal with a 'Troy'-like atmosphere. And that's just what Obsidian Claw and his members deliver. The album starts off a little strange, with the fairly unimpressive intro 'Surface', then kicks with 'Crown of the Kings' - an epic, technical composition that gives a perfect display of how black metal should sound anno 2006. It's fast, agressive and storm-like, but it's also melodic, well-played and crystal-clear. 'Black Uncharted' even tops this with a beautiful, minutes-long acoustic intermezzo, once more showcasing the craftsmanship of Obsidian Claw. Mind you, this is nothing like the fake folk crap you've been force-fed these days, it's an almost flamenco-like melancholic "masterpiece within a masterpiece". As it ends, KoK finish the song with one of BM's greatest qualities: an epic riff with an over-the top howl.

While I'm at it, Thebon is one of the best vocalists I've heard in a while. His capacities are actually quite limited, but he compensates it with -among other things- a really cool spoken voice, which is very important for the war atmosphere. It sounds like a general, who holds a speech to inspire his soldiers. I respect how he uses everything he has to still make the vocals sound good, and he has succeeded.

The following songs are good, but none top the first two. 'Winged Watcher' deserves special mention for the amazing ending melody - it echoes the glory days of Emperor, and that's something I've never heard any band do before. 'The Wealth of Darkness' is also a standout because of it's clean-sung chorus, another example of Thebon's efforts.

In overall, Armada is a very strong release, and I can recommend it to fans of Emperor, late Immortal, Rotting Christ, even Dimmu Borgir - any fan of 'non-kvlt' black metal. Keep up the good work!

Let me make it clear at the outset: I am not a big fan of most "pure" black metal, i.e. the traditional minimalist variety that pretty much defines the genre. Atmosphere and evil are just not enough for me...audio quality, musicianship, and dynamic/interesting songwriting are all important, and the great bulk of black metal lacks in one or more of these facets. It usually takes fusion with other genres (e.g., death, gothic, folk) to bring black metal into a more interesting light. Even then, sometimes it loses the fury and speed that provided some of my initial interest. Bands like Arkhon Infaustus, Axamenta, and newer Dimmu Borgir (as disrespected as the latter may be by black metal purists) are examples where the fury and evil is intact, but the songwriting and technical skill really shine. Pure black metal they are not, but they are clearly heavily influenced by the genre and maintain some of its core strengths.

Keep of Kalessin seems to be one of these fusion bands, or at least are on this album (I haven't heard their earlier work yet). It is definitely not pure black metal; there is a lot of thrash influence here (most strongly on Many Are We, which surprisingly has quite a bit of thrashy groove going on), both musically and vocally. And one of the best fusions of such that I've heard so far.

After a short instrumental intro, the first full song (track 2, Crown of the Kings) explodes with a frantic pace that doesn't let up for 2 1/2 minutes, giving way to a mid-paced two-note repeating motif full of dread. The speed is soon resumed with fervor until the closing of this 7+ minute track.

Track 3 again starts at a blistering pace (this one shows its thrash roots more than the first song). And as with track 2, has a mid-paced interlude, this time with a march to acoustic guitar strumming. Very cool. Then it's back into the maelstrom once again.

Tracks 4 and 5 are of slower pace overall, but do not lack in anger and energy. Track 5 (Many Are We), as mentioned earlier, is remarkably thrashy-groovy. It's actually my least favorite of the full songs on this album, just for seeming a bit out of place. It does have its blasting moments too, and a healthy dose of evil, but it stands out a bit too much.

Of the full songs, track 6 (Winged Watcher) has perhaps the slowest tempo for the majority of its 4-minute length, but makes up for that with a lot of moody guitar riffs. Some fast sections add venom.

Track 7, Into The Fire, is surprisingly derivative of Many Are We at first (listen to the beginning of each, the riff is very similar), but evolves into a suitably different direction. Still, the opening theme recurs and reminds one too often of its similarity. Not one of the strongest tracks here.

After an atmospheric instrumental (Deluge), we move into one of the album's most identifiable songs, The Wealth of Darkness. Good songwriting here, with a blasting pace getting things off to a frantic start. The repeated sing-along type of chorus works pretty well and doesn't devolve into cheese (as an Iron Maiden chorus often does).

At last we arrive at the final, titular, and longest track of the album, Armada. A long guitar pick slide starts things off, then a quick sample quote, and the breakneck pace begins. And once again a mid-paced section in the middle slows things down a bit before returning to the original breakneck theme.

The vocals are not black metal in style...more a gruff shouted thrash style than anything, with a few shrill screams here and there. Works fine, but I found myself wanting more of the shrieks (vocals like those of Dimmu Borgir or Axamenta would be ideal IMHO).

Overall, a very strong album and a great fusion of black and thrash metal. May not be everyone's cup of tea, and I can see some purists thinking this is sellout black metal or whatever, but all that matters is that it's good music. And that this definitely is.

Keep of Kalessin never really caught my interest before their EP “Reclaim”, released back in 2003. There was definitely something there, and although it wasn’t revolutionary or something, it stood out from a lot hailing from the same genre. Three years later, they release this masterpiece, and I’m in shock.
First off, K.o.K. has always maintained a certain style reminiscent of no other band. The cold, stiff, melancholic but melodic black metal with a mediocre production has always been their cup of tea. Although they’ve preserved their trademark, they’ve actually heightened the bar production-wise. The sound is striking on this disc. You can keep track of absolutely everything, which is a good thing because these guys are so technical you want to keep up with what they’re doing. And that’s very hard.

“Armada” is packed full with continual thoroughness. Every single song serves its purpose exactly the way it’s supposed to. The actual music takes form in some kind of hyper speed madness. Although every member plays their instrument like really tight, and with such technicality that one starts to wonder whether it’s possible or not, there’s clarity in the picture the whole time. You really got to hear it to believe it. They’ve opened up a whole new window for the machine-like black metal genre, as well as my own considerations while writing music. The riffs vary between hard and melodic, but the tendencies to mix those two are really rare, and this is where K.o.K. succeeds its mission. Every metal fan enjoys good riffs, but these are really over the top. The drums and bass follow the guitar-constructed music well, and I can’t think of a single complaint in that department. Wouldn’t this kind of perfection require a kick-ass singer as well? Enter Thebon, the newbie of the band. This guy sings, shrieks, growls and snarls like no other vocalist I’ve ever heard before. And I’ve listened to a lot. His almost insane performance doesn’t betray the “true” supposed vocal performance of black metal, nor does it take it to a uncomfortable level.

As stated, this is a fucking masterpiece. If Keep of Kalessin doesn’t get recognized more than they already are, it’s a damn shame. “Armada” will never cease to exist on my playlist, that’s for sure. To me, this is all the De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Transilvanian Hungers and Hvis Lyset tar Oss’s all rolled into one big achievement, and even bettered by a thousand times. Hold this one up high, folks, find it and buy it. Now!
The absolutely essential tracks (this may be silly considering the score given, but these songs would’ve earned over a 100% if possible):

“Crown of the Kings”, “Winged Watcher”, “Into the Fire” & “The Wealth of Darkness”