Album Art
Do you ever find yourself sat at home, trying to find something in your collection to listen to and then think ‘I wish I had some Death/Groove metal’? If the answer to that question is yes then do we have a treat for you. Here we have new album Samsara by UK Death/Groove metal outfit Karybdis and it is going to tear your face off!
Don’t be expecting any power ballads though, what you are going to get is nine tracks, played fast, hard and with style and it is unrelenting from the very beginning of album opener ‘Rorschach’ (surely a tribute to the Watchmen character of the same name) right up to the bitter end of the guttural roar that finishes of closer ‘Absence’ . Just look at that album artwork? It’s big, bad and gnarly. If you want to explain what the music on display here sounds like, look at that artwork. That is exactly what it sounds like!
This is a band who know their way around their instruments. This is shown to an outstanding level on ‘Ascendancy’ . Stops, starts, guitar picking, riffing and ridiculous technical efficiency. At times it harks back to the early days of Sikth with it’s schizophrenic pacing and playing. The amazingly titled ‘Mermaids’ lulls you into a false sense of security with it’s slow, bluesy opening, this quickly changes though and we get back to business as usual but for the first time you really notice that Karybdis actually know how to work a melody. It’s a track that pulls you into the album deeper and makes you realise that this band mean business. They seem to have many strings to their bows and know how utilise each to the best of their ability.
‘Summon The Times’ is an album standout on an album of killer tracks. The choral vocals and strings that open the track are rather unnerving and gives the feeling as the deep pound of drums comes in that something sinister awaits. Almost two minutes into the track that foreboding sense of doom becomes reality as you receive yet another pummelling.
This is track after track of great, heavy, technical music, sure there is not much variation and I have no idea what the hell they are singing about but it really doesn’t matter or take anything away from the album. Samsara nothing short of a badass release, this is a pure badass album. It’s almost impossible to put it any other way. If you are into Death metal, if you are into groove, tech metal or just metal in general then we say get out there and get your ears around this. You wont be sorry. We only see big things in the future for Karybdis, sure this will never be number one in the charts but this is a band who can quickly establish themselves as a band to keep an eye on and create a true cult following for themselves. Good work gents!
