Testimonios

How many bands openly follow Black Sabbath? A burning question indeed, but the founding fathers have gathered more worship than any other metal group, and thus, we have several auditions wallowing in doom without any intelligence; however, Kranium can kick a room full of asses. As they’ve been slithering under the radar for several years, Kranium has been involved with several sounds, yet “Testimonios” finds them reaching toward a hardy agenda based on “Paranoid” and other Black Sabbath classics. Sounds pretty bland, doesn’t it? If you think so, wait until strange folk-laden instruments and death metal influences softly stroke this typical sound, making it what these Peruvian shredders are all about: both commonness, and obscurity.

You’ve definitely heard some Sabbath at least a million times, therefore, you can probably make an accurate picture of what this album associates with. Slow, hammering riffs layered upon crushing percussion, powerful bass playing, and keen vocals that stretch across these low patterns regardless of length. Punch after punch, it becomes rather obvious within milliseconds of listening that Kranium has no intention to speed up or change attitude; they are doom metal entirely. But what about Kranium’s own diversion that leads away from musical copycatting? After all, doing exactly what Black Sabbath did doesn’t merit an identity, so where’s the DNA?

Asking such questions lead us to discover “Testimonios” and its hidden treasures: bizarre mixtures of folk touches and diabolically-charged death metal sandblasters amongst doom-laden musicianship. Right when things begin to look a bit grim, flutes and other interesting experiments begin hovering above and around while that unrushed distortion slowly induces a natural high; quite an interesting result when these two entities meet. Even better, low growls are occasionally applied in acute intervals, making everything appear much more distinct and individual than one could easily anticipate. A few collections of all Kranium’s genetics equate to “Testimonios” entirely, and we can accurately see how just a little touch of difference causes a long trail of pleasure.

So in conclusion, Kranium's reign of folk-influenced doom metal comfortably strokes all pleasure systems from start to finish, even if you're an uptight douche with no patience or dignity when it comes to solid Sabbath worship. I really enjoy how Kranium delightfully layers everything in uncharacteristic folk touches and occasionally dives straight into death metal’s spikes, making a traditional metal CD anything but traditional, but I guess that’s the point. These dudes easily manipulated so many different combinations into their own safe, and with the code cracked, this record reveals an inner price one could never foresee; it’s truly an original release. If it sounds like something you’d enjoy, give “Testimonios” a grab.

This review was written for: www.leviatan-magazine.com

When I got this CD, there was a flyer with it on which was possible to read that the style of Kranium was "doom folk heavy metal". I was curious and when I put the disc in my CD-player, the surprise: probably this label is, indeed, the best definition for Kranium's well-crafted music.

With this album, Kranium was able to blend influences of heavy metal from the 70's (Black Sabbath with Ozzy) with doom metal from the 90's (My Dying Bride) and even add elements of Peruvian folk music. The result is impressing. We have here some vigorous metal, that is heavy and extremely well played (every musician in the line up is an expert in his instrument). And it's very original.

The vocals have a big variety, from growls to melodic clean-tones. And the clean vocals have different styles (aggressive, soft, hypnotic, etc.). Maybe for the ones who are only used to listening to bands that sing in Germanic languages, Daniel Roncagliolo's Spanish vocals might sound strange at the first time one listens to them. But that's something that happens only at the beginning, because later the listener even feels like singing along with him (yes, there are some sing-along-like songs here). There is another interesting facts about the lyrics: some songs are sung in Inka language (but we have translations to Spanish in the booklet). The guitar sound is perfect for the kind of music Kranium plays, as it is solid and heavy, but still clear enough to allow the listener to feel all the details of the riffs and solos (the guitar solos are magnificent, by the way - very melodic and technical). The quality of the recording is perfect, it's important to mention. The bass and the drums are heavy, solid and creative too. The keyboards are discreet, pleasant and very well-placed in the songs and their melodies and tones have a clear influence from the 70's. But what really calls the attention in this album are the typical instruments from Peru. I mean the flutes and all the others with unique Spanish names (that I don't even know how they are). These exotic instruments add a great atmosphere to the songs and are very well placed too.

Songs like "No Te Tortures", "El Obraje", "Guerreros" and the epic piece "Dos Sonrisas, Una Lágrima" are 100% flawless, pure genius. "Markawasi" is another highlight of the album, a magical instrumental track, pretty much progressive rock influenced. If you have the opportunity of buying this, do it. Kranium is one of the best South American acts ever.