CoC : Krieg - Rise of the Imperial Hordes : Review

Krieg - _Rise of the Imperial Hordes_
(Blood, 1998)
by: Andrew Lewandowski (8 out of 10)

For much of this album, Krieg create an inexorable cacophony of old school black metal, but unfortunately, four ineffective keyboard tracks are strewn throught the album's 11 short tracks. They disrupt the album's merciless, nihilistic aesthetic, and once combined with the Nietzschian lyrics and goofy demonic spoken word vocals, they ensure that _Rise of the Imperial Hordes_ has more obtrusive silliness than almost any intelligent black metal album since Impaled Nazarene's _Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz_. The similarities between Krieg and primal Finnish black metal do not end there; Krieg's layering of grinding slabs of castrated melodies on top of steady rhythms recalls early Impaled Nazarene, while Krieg's use of doom riffs and stark melancholic passages is akin to Beherit's _Drawing Down the Moon_. During their most potent moments, Krieg can also match the brutality of Blasphemy with the former's injection of the slashing melodies of grindcore and breakneck, occasionally complex drumming patterns into a deceptively traditional black metal structure. This may be somewhat more chaotic than original, yet most of _RotIH_ should satisfy anyone who wishes to hear brutal American black metal which is produced well, besides a flat drum sound, and not directly influenced by Darkthrone, particularly if this potential listener is a fan of Blasphemy.

(article published 13/4/1998)

ALBUMS
26/4/2005	T DePalma	7	Krieg - Sono lo Scherno
31/7/2004	T DePalma	10	Krieg - The Black House