Krisiun

AssassiNation

Century Media Records 2006

I have been an avid fan of these Brazilians since Black Force Domain and considered Conquerors of Armageddon to be a death metal classic but as of late my interest has waned, especially since the production fiasco named Ageless Venomous.  Their Merciless onslaught of death metal brutality has always appealed to me but it was starting to get too straightforward and a little stagnant for me.  All that is over though.  AssassiNation has breathed new life into my whole outlook on Krisiun.  This album is insanely varied and they experiment all over the place.  This along with Conquerors could be their best album ever.  It certainly places Krisiun head and shoulders over their peers.  A great example of the aforementioned experimentation is the disharmonic squeals that permeate Vicious Wrath.  Another "trick" I really like is that fuzzed out reverbed guitar that opens Suicidal Savagery.  Moyses Kolesne once again demonstrates why he is considered one of the top guitarists in all of metal.  For proof try and not fall down after the dizzying solo in Refusal, or on Father's Perversion, or on, or on.....  You get the point.  I was so disoriented I fell out of my chair (not literally).  My favorite song is United in Deception which hits you like crowbar in the face after the false security and relative tranquility of the instrumental Doomed that precedes it.  The production is crystal clear and powerful as hell.  It helps to unify all the instruments into a finely honed killing machine.  I am glad that Max Kolesne has continued to grow in his drumming and shows that he is more than capable to play tempos that aren't insane jack hammering blast beats.  I am not saying he couldn't before but this album really highlights this enhanced skill of his.  With AssassiNation I would venture to say that Krisiun has once again grabbed my attention but that would be putting it too mildly.  This album is a superb display of a professional musical massacre.