Titan's Awakening

There was a time when I was very much into death metal, but after delving deep, having heard hundreds upon hundreds of death metal bands, I started to grow tired of it. Unavoidably, I only listen to the bands that really, really stand out in the genre. Among the clones, the mediocre, the lame, and all the rest that just aren't important, Kronos shines brilliantly. Normally I find it impossible to pick a favorite band in a genre, but Kronos makes the task easy in all their majesty. Hands down my favorite death metal band.

First and foremost, the genre of death metal is characterized by being "brutal" - and you will rarely find a band as genuinely brutal and intensely powerful as Kronos. Both the monstrous low growls, and the high pitched black metal, or even grindcore sounding high pitched vocals are malicious as Hell. Insanely fast drumming carry the turbulent flow of the music. And I don't mean "look at me, I can go fast on the double bass like Pete Sandoval" fast. I mean quick fills at blistering fast tempos, so fast you'd probably doubt a blast beat could be implemented - and you'd be very wrong.

The unique lyrical theme of Greek mythology with a gore element is very refreshing from the more straightforward and bland approach. There is some keen lead guitar work here, but it really pales in comparison to the next album, which is my favorite death metal album of all time. Though there is a abstract sense of harmony and melody which is normally not accessible in such a storm of intensity like this. Yes, that is the truly great thing about this band, not only are they one of the most intense bands ever, but they do it with a distinct, colorful way. Not monotonous, not at all doomy sounding. It's really like someone took speed metal riffs and sped them up 100 times and delivered it in a package that was somehow unique and fresh.

If you like death metal and you don't know this band, shame on you. This is great stuff, which is a great precursor to the next album.