The Corroding Age of Wounds

Shit! They're all here: Satan, Death, Cerberus, and the evil minions... Waters turned into lava, huge explosions, ruins of human cultures... Filipino one-man band Kratornas unleashed his second full length album over mankind a couple of months ago, and what you get with it is chaotic thrashy black metal.

The opener 'Beasts from the Sea' is seven and a half minutes long, starting with a foreboding mid-pace riffing, and you're ready to believe that this album where the average song length is six minutes, is filled with this kind of mid-paced stuff all the way through. But no fucking way. After 30 seconds to the first song, the infernal blasting begins. The blast or very fast beats are occasionally cut by a bit slower tempos, but if you're not able/willing to get almost constant drum machine firing on all its cylinders, then steer clear of this album. But those who seek for extreme form of thrashy black metal, this album is for you. Nearly on the whole consisting of nasty 'n' fast thrashy (German way) nineties black metal, there are some atmospheric (well, isn't all of it atmospheric then??? Yes, it is, but hopefully you get my meaning) parts as well as evil death metal bits found on the closer 'Deathpuzzle'. If you seek melody, then you're listening to a wrong band. The song structures sound scrappy, but the absence of the lyrics sheet might explain some of that.

The high-toned guitar is rusty and totally ripping (insane finger-tipping solos must be mentioned too), the drum machine loud and echoing, and somewhat variable demonic vocals are guttural shrieking with a big reverb and basically fully uncomprehending without the lyrics. Oh yeah, there are some occasions when the bass is heard, too! This is all homespun excluding the mastering, and surely would benefit from decent studio production.

'The Corroding Age of Wounds' is aural hell, simply put. Just like the band's debut album 'Over the Fourth Part of the Earth' (2007), there is something insanely gripping about this shit! That feeling is getting stronger when a listener starts to find, that in this chaos there are conspicuous threads running all around it, like the chaotic universe itself. Consider yourself warned.

(originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com in 2009)

Bruno Zamora has been battering away at his one-man brand of vicious and raw black metal for over a decade, and two years ago released the first proper full-length, Over the Fourth Part of the Earth, which showed the man's potential for over the top, disgusting primal chaos, black metal with traces of death and grind that amplify its extremity. The Corroding Age of Wounds is a sound follow-up, but be warned: this is not the type of black metal record you listen to for catchy or hypnotic rhythms, it's an almost unmitigated, barbaric onslaught of filth.

I'm going to say up front that the drum machine did not work for me through this album. The beats match the riffs, but something just feels disconnected, perhaps it was the mix, perhaps some added fills are needed. Beyond that, the guitars sizzle with abyssal fury and Zamora's vocals are absolutely infectious in that hellish sense that they would almost dominate the mix (if not for the raw, blazing guitars). "Beasts Form the Sea" is a turbulent, chaotic blitz of black metal that ranges from majestic, scything rhythms to blasting blitzkrieg. "On Dying Aeons" opens with a simple, bloodied melody and "Three Unclean Spirits" has a punkish, grinding edge to its lead-in rhythm. Other tracks that will have you cutting into your own flesh include the tumult and confusion of "Chaosblade", and the great riffing of "Interstellar Doom".

The Corroding Age of Wounds is a good effort, it does capture the essence of savage black metal channeled through its influences, but from a new perspective. Kratornas is another example of what a single vision can accomplish with a guitar and spirit fueled by cruelty. The only weaknesses that remain are the sub-par use of the drum machine and often inaudible bass. Once these are addressed, Zamora will have himself a top shelf project.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

This is the second full-length album from Kratornas, a Philippine band playing grinding black metal.

The production on this record is quite clear, with high, thin guitars and gurgling snarled vocals. The thumping drum sound is right up front in the mix, and tends to bury everything else during the blasting parts.

In terms of songwriting, this album is much more coherent and structured than Kratornas' earlier works. The crazy solos are still present, but the riffing is more restrained, almost in the Bathory mold. Stately, catchy riffs like the one at the end of "Beasts From The Sea" add maturity to the band's sound, while the frenetic blasting parts remind me of their earlier works. Unfortunately, I think the drum sound really ruins the fast-paced parts; it's just impossible to enjoy them with the steady, one-note thud of the drums drowning out everything else. Too bad, because the mid-paced and slow parts are great, much better than on the earlier albums! Songs like "Chaosblade", with its insane intro, full-bore blasting, and stomping main riff, really emphasize how much this band has grown.

This is worth checking out if you like both old-school riffing and shredding blasting sections, but I think I'd recommend the band's earlier works over this, solely due to the drum-heavy production. I can certainly recommended it for those who already have the other albums, though.

Standout tracks: "Beasts From The Sea", "Chaosblade", "Interstellar Doom"

I find something special in one-man bands and that "something" is very interesting to say the least. Kratornas is one of those one-man bands. In the other hand, it's a fact that easily falls to that "love them or hate them" category, being one of these typical examples that cannot stand in anything between, it will either sound amazing or disgusting. Yeah, you guessed corrent, chances are that you will love this! "The Corroding Age of Wounds" is the second full-lenght and after some repeative spins I can easily say: there's some very intense stuff in it. Quite a few steps forward and without compromising anything from the past, Kratornas delivers again it's sickness. These steps forward can be observed from the very begining, and yes, once again it's brutal as fuck!

Let me start with the basics, the song structure became a little more certain. The chaos and the fog which obscured (positively) all previous Kratornas releases is now somewhat elevated, resulting in a more "crystal" production. There riffs are very evident, catchy; but not lame, very well composed and multi-dimentional, expanding in all the black/death spectrum. As I see it, the whole outcome shows a more close approach to traditional black metal, more black than before, leaving all "alien" elements of the past out. The infamous drum-machine still exists and of cource fits very well. Additionally, the sinister vocals of mr. Bruno Zamora (the mastermind behind Kratornas) are ripping everything in their path. All these ingredients which made Kratornas special are present, in fact nothing has changed but everything has evolved the only way possible, to the very best.

To summarize, as far as I'm concerned this is Kratornas' most solid release until now. Yeah, I addmit that I like virtualy everything Kratornas ever released, but I can surely say that this CD turns to be a real gem, from the cover art until the smallest detail. With that huge proportion of it, Kratornas is forming a personalized, vast and distinctive style that is soon to classic in the mind of every maniac out there. A sincere and true statement against these massive waves of the new plastic black-death "underground" mainstream. Nothing more, nothing less, only pure, hyper-fast, insanely brutal, inspiring, energetic and moshing black metal ov death. Mastered at Necromorbus Studio (Sweden) and the cover artwork was painted exclusively by Kris Verwimp; not to forget that the die-hard version comes with a patch and a button; hell yeah! In conclusion, do a nice treat to yourself and get a copy right fuckin' now! No joke. Feel every minute of this in-your-face outburst, experience this mutilation and let it crush you again and again. Hey Bruno, well done, very well done...

My only previous exposure to Kratornas was through the EP Hallow Ground Destruction. It was roughly as raw, kvlt and generally absurdly over-the-top as it could possibly be. Everything was drenched in an incredible amount of distortion, and the drums were so crushingly loud that tom rolls sounded something like artillery barrages than percussion, and utterly drowned out everything else. The vocals were distorted shrieks and over-loud growls, all of which was spat out mercilessly over lightening speed, pounding riffs.

On The Corroding Age of Wounds, Kratornas seems to have mellowed out a bit. The drums no longer blast at incredible speeds, the guitars are mostly clean, with frequent acoustic and piano breaks, and the vocals are almost always operatic in style. Or, er, something like that. In reality, the album falls between the two extremes, one real and awesome, the other not so real (and not so awesome). This album is unquestionably less ‘kvlt’, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The EP was so extreme that its extremity became its defining point. When I thought of it, that was what I thought of. It was how I described it, and it was what you heard when you listened to it. With the sheer rawness dialed back a bit, the music has more room to actually succeed or fail on its own merits…and trust me, there’s no failing here.

The music is primarily in a blackened thrash vein, although some riffs feel more like industrial at times (in the best possible way). Bands like Mayhem, Bathory, Immortal and the like can frequently be heard as major influences, but Kratornas never comes close to downright copying, let alone parody. A large portion of that is due to the band’s peerless brutality, taking things that have been done before and pushing them so far beyond what should be possible that they become amazing once again. Kratornas is, in a way, almost the Mortician of black metal, in that it takes concepts that are frequently overdone and stupid, and pushes them to their extreme – reinvigorating them ten times over in the process. Like on the EP, this is fearsomely catchy at times. If it seems odd to have one of the brutalest things imaginable be catchy as well, you simply need to hear it. Probably the greatest example of this is Three Unclean Spirits, which sounds something like what Black ‘n Roll might if it was a dozen times faster, more aggressive, rawer and just generally better.

The riffs are generally tremolo picked, and are some of the fastest I’ve ever heard. There are occasional epic breaks, all of which work excellently. The solos, when they come, consist of wammy bar abuse and the like, although they’re so fast that you might not even pick up on them during a first listen. Like on Hallow Ground Destruction, the drums play a huge role in the bands sound. They’re a machine, and it’s pretty obvious, but it works perfectly here. They often play very interesting beats, including making frequent use of ride cymbals, and when they blast it’s devastating beyond belief, and occurs at speeds that could put any drummer I can think of to shame. The vocals are another highlight. There is singing almost throughout, which generally annoys me, but once again, it works here. The vocals are stunningly varied, ranging from twisted shrieks to ferocious growls and to everything imaginable in between, and are just as aggressive as the maelstrom of riffing that they lead ahead.

The production played a very large role in making Hallow Ground Destruction what it was, and it does the same here. As I’ve already made clear, it’s no longer nearly as raw, but it’s still far from being even remotely in danger of being considered intolerable to most people. It’s far more high end oriented here, and you can make out each instrument – save the bass – quite well, which helps the music quite a bit. The guitars sound great when they tremolo pick and the like, although their tone is far thinner than it was on the first album, and so, as a result of that and the absence of the skull-crushing breaks of the first album, this is quite a bit less outright heavy than the EP, although it’s still quite satisfactory in that department. As a result of the less dominating guitars, the drums carry even more of the music on their shoulders on this release. They still have an incredible pounding, echoing tone, though the monolithic tom rolls are gone. I guess it’s not something I should’ve necessarily been awaiting with bated breath, but their absence is still somewhat a disappointment.

In the end, Hallow Ground Destruction was essentially an EP with one trick up its sleeve: its (complete justified) “Kvlter Than Thou” attitude. That one facet was so endearing and incredible that it made the album excellent. The Corroding Age of Wounds, on the other hand, has quite a few things going for it. It’s far longer, but that’s not due to bloat and repetition, but rather to more developed songwriting. The music is packed with variety, while still not loosing its central rage, and each song and riff is distinct. Things range from excellent thrashy leads, to tremolo picked blast fests, in seconds, and the whole thing is pulled off flawlessly. The album also escapes its (distant) predecessor’s over-reliance on guitar breaks as transitions. That being said, none of the myriad elements of The Corroding Age of Wounds has the same punch as that one drive on the EP. As a result, this is the better album without much doubt, but the EP is still probably the one that will stick out in your mind the most. Regardless, this is highly recommended for all fans of aggressive black metal…at least those that can stomach enough distortion to make noise fans blush and back off a bit.

This is the latest third world obscurity from these purveyors of black metal filth. I'm not at all impressed with this release.

The guitar sound is chaotic and buzzsaw-like, if a little thin. The recording, as a whole, is hampered and dominated by repetitive percussion via drum machine, one dimensional song writing, and demo-like production values. The songs do not distinguish themselves from each other; everything descends into a chaotic blur, without any sense of brutal hypnotic ambiance that usually makes this kind of blackened thrash successful. Bathory and Mayhem this tries to be, but doesn't come close.

In other words, this is a crap album. Even when, from time to time, the tempo slows down, as on Flood of Fire, the riffs are so awkwardly played that it elicits only a rudimentary head bang. Occasionally, some weird back masking effects and ambiance are used, such as Chaosblade, but you've heard it a 100 times before by better bands. Actually Chaosblade is one of the better songs on the album, distinguished by a weird use of high and low rasps and screams, and slightly more variety tempo-wise. Occasionally, a trebly bass line can be discerned, only to disappear into the muck.

Interstellar Doom is also a song that almost works, containing a few imaginative riffs, but screams out for a real band to interpret them, and in the end is overwhelmed by the crap thump thump drum sound. Otherwise, this is completely disposable. It never quit evokes an atmosphere of evil, just a few cheesy grunts and cheap gimmicks. Get a real drummer, dude.