Don’t worry… I’ll keep this biographical intro short. Norway’s KEEP OF KALESSIN is another one of those bands that seems to be best known for its links to other bands. Founding member Obsidian C. was a touring guitarist for SATYRICON, and at one time this outfit featured drummer Frost (SATYRICON, 1349) and vocalist Attila Csihar (MAYHEM). After a few albums on Italian label Avantgarde and a line-up revamping, they’ve now reached the promised land of US distribution with their new album “Armada”. See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?

Okay, now onto the music. “Armada” is a perfect example of modern Viking drenched black metal, with the emphasis on the black metal. While it doesn’t feature roaring choruses like those on BATHORY albums like “Twilight of the Gods” and “Blood on Ice”, and the standard sound effects of battle and seafaring are scarce, that just leaves more room for the main attraction: the blazingly fast black metal heaviness. Drummer Vyl’s blast beats can easily keep up with the speed of Frost’s, and naturally integrate nicely with Obsidian’s riffing which has a bit of the sweeping style of Satyr. New vocalist Thebon adds a decent amount of BATHORY factor with his Quorthon-inspired growl/sing style (though he manages to stay in tune a little easier). And, uh, so he doesn’t feel left out, bassist Wizziac has one of the most unique names I’ve ever encountered in the genre. These compositions are a bit on the long side and not quite as adventurous as, say, ENSLAVED, but there’s still a satisfactory enough amount of variety to keep just about any fanatic of all things heavy and evil tuned in all the way through. Also, the production is crisp and clear yet leaves enough grit so as not to make the album sound too commercial (no names listed here).

For black metal byproducts, one could certainly do a lot worse, and hopefully with this release KEEP OF KALESSIN can start to overcome that whole “wasn’t so-and-so from such-and-such in this band?” syndrome. Bottom line: if anyone who hears “Armada” doesn’t immediately feel like pillaging an entire countryside, they’ll still probably want to pillage a few houses.

- Cardona

OFFICIAL SITE: www.keepofkalessin.no

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