Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Khristenn Corpse - Grotesque (2011)

Back in 2011, Venezuelan black/death metal act Khristenn Corpse headed into the studio to record their first full length release entitled Grotesque.  Obviously influenced by bands like Emperor and Carach Angren, the result was a powerful and haunting piece of work.  After making themselves known within the metal scene in their home country with their 2005 demo and 2010 EP, Grotesque got the attention of not only their home country fans, but also many fans internationally.  Consisting of 10 songs, clocking in right around 40 minutes long, Khristenn Corpse dominates your eardrums with extreme melodic black metal. 


All songs are extremely powerful and upbeat.  The drummer is extremely talented and the songs fit perfectly around his fills to bring out his talents within the music a little more.  Within the mix of Grotesque, the crash cymbals are very loud compared to the rest of the drum set, which can distract from the overall listening experience. 

Every song on Grotesque has a dark and eerie feel to it, which can be attributed to the roaring vocals and synths.  The vocalist has a very demonic scream that is extremely unique to anything I have ever heard.  His power throughout the songs really drives them forward.  The synths, while they don’t take the lead as often as they could, add an extra level of atmosphere to the music, giving it a “haunted house” kind of sound. 

The one thing that is disappointing is the guitars.  Their playing is outstanding, but they get buried in the mix and you can’t hear them a whole lot over the drums or the synths.  The synths are typically playing the same melody as the guitars would, which gives you an idea of what they are doing, but it would have been nice to hear them a little more to keep the big and full sound going throughout the song.

Overall, Khristenn Corpse is a force to be reckoned with.  They proved themselves with their first teasers of material in previous years, but Grotesque kicked their game up to a whole new level and they are ready to rock.  The mix at some points proves troubling, the unique sound the band has developed reigns through.  Grotesque is available through many labels in many different countries, as well as online on their Bandcamp page.

9/10


http://khristenn-corpse.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/khristenn-Corpse/187415994636597

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