Khold

Morke Gravers Kammer

Candlelight 2004

For me Khold is poised to fill the void as second favorite band vacated with the untimely demise of Carpathian Forest.  And conveniently they have just released a new album to tide me over until the new Darkthrone is fully unleashed upon me.  With such high expectations it was almost bound to happen, I am slightly disappointed with this Cd.  I can't figure out why that is though.  All the trademarks that made them one of my favorites are there.  They experiment a little with some of their riff compositions like the death metal riffs that open "Opera Seria" and the Odd breaks and minimalist harmonies in the title track.  "Opera Seria" also has some of the most atmospheric riffs of khold's career.  They remind me of the opening riff on Darkthrone's "Claws of Time" not because they sound the same but because they have the same depressive atmosphere shared between them.  I would say this album is faster in general than Phantoms but not as fast as Masterpiss of Pain.  "Atselgraver" starts of deceptively slow and thin but then kicks into high gear and then breaks down into a sludgy Black and Roll riff Khold seems to specialize in.  But there are some seriously slow and creepy passages sprinkled throughout.  The guitar tone is as thick as ever.  I've always really liked the fact that Khold use a thick and beefy guitar sound.  It adds a lot weight to the riffs.  Also the bass guitar is more prominent than it was on Phantoms.  There is also a video track for the track "Dod" on it which is basically clips of the band running through dimly lit underground passages while interspersing scenes of them playing their instruments in said passages.  The packaging is starting to head in the right direction.  You can actually see that there are other members other than Gard.  Plus the colors are darker.  Gone are the reds and whites and they are now replaced with darkness and cold blues and grays.  Overall I this is a solid slab of modern Norwegian black metal but for some reason it didn't make as big of an impact as I had hoped.  But if you liked Khold in the past you will find no reason not to like them here.