By: Anders

Posted: Sep 30, 2005

This French band is a new acquaintance for me, but what an album to learn the band to know from. This is the second album from Kragens, which was formed back in 2000. The band should get their break through with this great crafted album, which shows a band with a lot of skills. The music is quite a blend, great melodic thrash, with many swirling heavy metal elements. On top of that very diverse vocals, all from the deepest and ugliest growl you can imagine, to a scream reminiscent of Rob Halford in topform, and all in between.

The music is very gripping, catchy riffs with a good amount of powerful thrash influence, at other times steam train-like heavy metal shredding, commanding the neck to move. Though there are almost always an epic atmosphere present, preventing it all to get too straight forward. The music is of course also quite technical, there are good breaks and twisted rhythm patterns. Good guitar solos, as in the more or less ballad 'I Choose To Die', which shows the band from their "soft" side, together with some ripping thrashing and pounding double bass drumming.

The vocals are a big part of the musical picture Kragens paint. It is a really powerful vocal performance, and all the types from the clean vocals, to the aggressive thrashy screams to the growls are good, and very impressive, and it gets even more impressive, when one knows they all come from the same man. The vocals paired with the music and the good and clever song writing makes a hell of an album. The sound on the album is good as well, pretty raw, but hard hitting and straight in your face, and it fits both the thrash parts and the cleaner heavy metal parts very well.

This is a very good and impressive release this, for now, unknown French band has made. This release will for sure turn some heads, no doubt about that. Straight ahead thrash, with good melodies, great technique and progressive elements, and a bit more brutal than what we usually hear from this niche of thrash, where Nevermore usually are the big inspirational source. This is a good and lasting album, which has shed some light and headbanging onto a dull and dark Danish autumn.

Rating: 8,5/10

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