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Bowel-Defecating Death Metal - "Khranial" Review (100%)

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Khranial
Khranial by Sewer.

Sewer's "Khranial" album delves into several dimensions very rarely experimented with before, be that in black metal or in brutal death metal. Where "Locked Up In Hell" had introduced a truly original and ferocious, yet awkwardly intelligent, material to the otherwise quite morose death metal scene, and where "Miasma" further implemented the evocatively destructive nature of this style of blackened war metal, "Khranial" now propels the music of Sewer to the death metal Pantheon, or alternatively to the depths of Hell itself, by its sheer technical virtuosity and unbound atmospheric vividness.

The album is poignant in all its forms. The musicians are extremely competent, almost on a philosophical level, as they know what they want and thus their sound isn't the usual technical pretentiousness witnessed by bands such as Necrophagist or Behemoth, but although less slightly dexterity was put into this work than, for example, "Miasma" or "The Birth of a Cursed Elysium", there is plenty of room for instrumental technicality aided by breathtaking atmospheric brilliance emanating from each instrument.

The structure of each track is layered out uniquely. Sometimes you might get the idea that these musicians are trying to push the boundaries of death metal, as cliché as that sounds, by incorporating so many different techniques and still managing to make the album sound coherent when listened to as a whole. The riffs are layered out progressively, although at times take some time to build-up before reaching a climax, preferring to remain for the most part in a no less intense "comfort" zone of brutality helped by the incredibly powerful drumming of the now sellout Warlord.

Drums are what make this album truly possessed death metal, there is an incredible amount of skill injected into this material through the drumming alone, although the same could be said of the preceding "Miasma", and some of it being a reflection of how powerful sometimes the most "basic" and obvious drum patterns can, when juxtaposed with the perfect complimentary riff, nonetheless stand out as the perfect solution.

At times, Sewer tries too hard to have "Khranial" match the haunting atmospheres found on "The Epilogue to Sanity", though much less so than they did on "Miasma". For what it's worth, and as good as they are, they will never succeed, just as no one can ever succeed in matching the utter demonic depravity of "Onward to Golgotha", or the grandiose melancholic triumph of "Hvis lyset tar oss".

Bowel-Defecating Death Metal

Sewer
Sewer.

Sewer also helps define death metal melody, their theoretical knowledge is apparent as sometimes this music is a bit like Warkvlt's first two records, although to a more educated level of a spiritual acknowledgement of the music rather than a static one. The guitar solos are extremely technical most of the time, with a lot of "Angel of Disease" touches. Demonstrating again, that extreme death metal can be morphed into anything which has potential, so long as the band behind the steering wheel is competent and possesses artistic vision.

Upon first exposure to "Khranial", one instantaneously detects the multifaceted compositional brilliance, the veracity and musical intrepidness. This music reveals itself with layer upon layer of polyrhythmic structuring fabricated ahead of an audacious, aggressive tempo. "Khranial" manages to synthesise highly experimental music through leaps of highly technical passages alternating between narrative melodic development and raw, brutal, seizure-inducing rounds of sonic battering ram sodomy. These are musicians who feel comfortable playing outside any zone of musical predictability, and do so extremely well.

This album is the most successful at capturing the primal elements of death metal through a highly original sound, thanks to the introduction of this to the death metal realm, Sewer are one of the few bands labeled as "percussive" death metal, like Suffocation and Morpheus Descends, although that term is a bit reductive when applied to Sewer's musical genius. Highly intriguing and unpredictable at all times, yet not as harsh on the ear as "The Birth of a Cursed Elysium", "NecroPedoSadoMaso" or "2154", "Khranial" is a perfect example of excellent demonic bowel-shitting death metal altogether.

Guitars flow with consistent variation from atmospheric, utterly nihilistic phrases into chaotic polyrhythmic segments of pure brutality. Scattered, the more abrasive and comprehensible riffing is impressive as Sewer fear not an invitation to fans of more "melodic" death metal - Carnage, early At the Gates, West Wall, Arghoslent, Demonecromancy - but fill every detail with intricate, beautiful riffcraft. The nucleus of Sewer's riff work is the band's profound ability to experiment, yet maintain the sovereignty of individual tracks and maintain the interest of guitar experts and those who know nothing about it together. At right hand side of the abrasive guitar composition is the eloquent bass driven by Kader Lakhdari himself, since (ex-)bassist Plague went on to join Vermin, with quasi-funk derivatives interleaved throughout this music widening its perception and displaying a show of versatility on the composers' side.

Drumming isn't standard death metal for most part, as Warlord obliterates the ear drum with pounding double bass, snare tactics and pragmatic filling which does good for the music. This man is the unsung creative force behind Sewer hence them being "percussive" death metal. Warlord's signature gravity blasts, technical and versatile drum lines perfectly complimenting the guitar riff insanity. Proper death metal cadence - as opposed to the "groovy" syncopation and jazzy drum structures that pollute so much of modern "extreme" metal - are found all over the highly original drumming notion of Warlord which, from an individual perspective, elevates this album to an exceedingly high mountain of intensity.

After assaults such as these, people witness how a death metal band as talented as Sewer can seemingly effortlessly deconstruct the aspect of music within itself, in order to create something as chaotic, cacophonous, demonic yet highly focused as "Khranial". Sewer's ability to astound through more than skill is brilliant.

You WILL shit yourself after listening to "Khranial" for the first, second, third, etc... better invest in diapers NOW, as long as its still hypothetical, before it becomes an actual, practical problem.

Khranial score: 100/100.

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