Monday 5 September 2016

REVIEW: Kurokuma - "Advorsus" EP

By: Chris Bull

Album Type: EP
Date Released: 0909/2016
Label: Medusa Crush Recordings




Like a bullet from a sniper, the opening riff from 'Lust' is delivered with pinpoint accuracy. 'Dark Triad' opens tribal drumming before hardcore inspired sludge (a la Love Sex Machine/Black Shape Of Nexus) gives everything a damn good thrashing. The riffs are groovy enough to get your head nodding but are out of the box enough to give you something to think about.  'Kali', the third and final song is simply brilliant. Thumping heavy riffs entangle with deconstructed song formats, making this a standout track on a standout release.

‘Advorsus CS //DD track listing:

01. Lust
02. Dark Triad
03. Kali

The Review:

Is 'Prog-doom/sludge/metal' a genre yet? If not, Kurokuma have just invented it. 'Advorsus' is the new EP from these Sheffield based atomsmashers, and contained within it's 3 tracks are enough weight, chops and ideas to make so called bigger bands scratch their heads and say "why didn't I think of that?!"

Like a bullet from a sniper, the opening riff from 'Lust' is delivered with pinpoint accuracy. Some punishing sludge makes way to some tribal drumming bringing to mind Sepultura's 'Roots' as the band put all their distortion pedals to work. There are so many layers to this band its unreal, the jolting bass weaves in between the drums and the NWOBHM meets Melechesh meets Crowbar guitar work is very impressive. 'Dark Triad' opens with some more tribal drumming and clean guitar work before hardcore inspired sludge (a la Love Sex Machine/Black Shape Of Nexus) gives everything a damn good thrashing. The riffs are groovy enough to get your head nodding but are out of the box enough to give you something to think about...and the guitar tone? Superb!

Listening to this, it's hard to believe I'm listening to a fairly "new" band, they sound so cohesive and fluid...but they only have a demo to their name; 'Kali', the third and final song is simply brilliant. Thumping heavy riffs entangle with deconstructed song formats, making this a standout track on a standout release. It's a track that has me searching the thesaurus for adequate superlatives; it's astonishing and corpulent.

I've witnessed this band live and can confirm that they are every bit as loud and heavy as they are on record. A band to keep tabs on, they'll surely be making waves in the very near future.

‘Advorsus" will be available Friday 9th September here


Band info: facebook