Kruger don’t mess around. Opening track ‘The Ox’ is the type of face-melting metal that we’ve come to expect from bands such as Mastadon, Neurosis and Meshuggah of late, with hyper complex riffs and rhythms piling up behind a singer who manages to combine a tumultuous roar with a pained tunefulness.
While ‘the ox’ is a sweeping barrage of pure metal, Kruger are a capable band who throw all manner of elements in to the sonic melting pot to offer up an intriguing and rewarding listen that frequently lurches off in wholly new and unexpected directions without ever letting up on the claustrophobic heaviness that puts the band up with the heavy hitters of rock and metal. ‘Return of the Huns’ opens on a bizarre electronic drum beat before pouring forth in more traditional style, offering up a fearsome groove in the process. Oddly the track peters out amidst a flurry of riffs and roars to end on an unexpectedly introspective note, a tactic that works well and provides greater emphasis to the opening of ‘Anthem of pretended glory’ which showcases the remarkable skills of Blaise, whose propulsive bass runs provide an ominous heaviness to proceedings. Meanwhile Reno’s vocals wax increasingly robotic as each track comes hammering in, and his wounded bellow has to be heard to be believed on this track in particular. ‘Villains’ is a more straight forward affair, although still heavier than a brick s**thouse landing upon your foot (if such things are known to fall from the sky).
Having progressed through this metal-infused valley of the damned, ‘Centre’ abruptly shifts ground, occupying territory normally held by bands such as Isis. Haunting guitar echoes while vocals mutate in the distortion laden fog. It’s still a heavy beast, complete with a brutal drum performance, but there are layers of melody hidden within the brutality. It’s a lengthy track (but certainly not overlong) and crammed with invention that keeps the listener hooked until the end as it fades into feedback and noise. ‘Muscle’ opens with a restrained drum beat while the guitarists hurl riffs about with so much abandon – it’s yet another shift in musical territory which sees Kruger taking on the mighty Botch at mathematically precise hardcore with guitars that sound like bulldozers. It’s an effective and heavy track, but it lacks the scope and originality of the other tracks on offer here, although a guest appearance from Gojira’s Joe Duplantier is far from unwelcome. ‘Duke of nothing’ by contrast grabs you from the off with its off kilter dynamic and pummelling riffs before heading into jazzy / art-rock territory in the protracted mid-section, there’s even a nod in the guitars to the Red Sparrowes’ progressive instrumental workouts. That just leaves ‘Turpitudes’ to see the album out in style a feat which it manages quite ably by sounding twice as heavy as anything that’s gone before while the vocals are positively inhuman. Another lengthy track, this one doesn’t slip into other-worldy progressive territory, maintaining the breathtakingly evil pace until the end, leaving the listener thoroughly exhausted.
Kruger are an astonishingly promising band, serving up a record that draws upon influences from the left-field of heavy music while introducing elements of their own into the mix. Ultimately it would be hard to imagine that Kruger won’t top this in releases to come, they sound to fired up, too full of fury and imagination not to, and there are a few occasions when they veer perilously close to the bands that make up their influences, but that is not to say that this isn’t an awesomely powerful record that isn’t worth your time, rather that while this album is pretty damn special, it would seem that Kruger are capable of creating something even more mind-bending in the future. In the meantime this is an album that is thoroughly recommended and if the opportunity arrives to see the band live you should jump on it.
