Label: ATMF
Releasedate: 04-10-2019
Xul ov Kvlten is a black metal band hailing from Santiago, Chile. They have been active since 2014. 3 years after their debut album, the band is back with “Entropic Increase From the Omega”.
This release offers us 9 tracks filled with blast beats, aggressive vocals and the typical black metal riffs that the fans of this genre are familiar with. There is no atmosphere but just almost 1 hour of aggression and darkness. This approach also brings some kind-of energy to the record as the overall pace of the songs is rather fast. So I am pretty sure that the fans who like their black metal fast and raw will love this album in an instant. One highlight was the melodic passages in the background in songs like “Tanatophilic Manifestation“ or “Nosce Te Ipsvm”, adding some variety to the band’s sound. The vocals also offer some twists as in some songs, I got some grind-ish vibes, which was quite surprising to hear. There are also a lot of death metal elements throughout this release.
One weakness with this album is the length of the songs and lack of diversity in this context. In albums like these, I expect songs that are rather ‘longer’ to bring some diversity – even in black metal-; this doesn’t have to be necessarily ‘progressive’ or ‘atmospheric’ but long songs need to flow and to keep the listener hooked so that the listener will want to hear more and won’t even notice that time flew by! Sadly, I didn’t get this feeling in this record. Xul Ov Kvlten definitely put a lot of effort but I personally lost interest through halfway as the album became a bit repetitive with the same structure. There are surely some interesting twists here and there but I think this is something the band can improve as there is surely a lot of potential and passion well-embedded in their soul and style.
“Entropic Increase From the Omega” might not be my favorite of this year but I will keep an eye on these guys and I recommend it if you like your black metal raw, aggressive and fast.
Tracklist
01. Ascend Pathos Signis Dómini
02. Destroying the Lamb Instinct
03. Entropic Increase from the Omega Aeon
04. Quintessence
05. Tanatophilic Manifestation
06. Nosce Te Ipsvm
07. The Primordial Chaos Synthesis
08. Hypnoskotomachia Oppositorum
09. Iconoclastic Nihilismus
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