Forming in the northeastern portion of England, Kilonova has made a quick impact since arriving on the market in 2018. They were able to play the infamous Bloodstock Open Air Festival six months after their first performance live, then building momentum through their Omnicide EP and stand-alone “Immortal” single. Now that the world is coming back to life for musicians, it makes sense that the quartet attack full force for their latest EP Moment of Clarity – a five-song offering that serves up an addictive form of modern melodic thrash sure to appease many who love aggressive music with catchy hooks beyond diverse vocal approaches.
Musically there are diverse components at play next to a thrash base – often the songs containing calmer or atmospheric passages before the heavier aspects kick into the gear, which makes for an appetizing, edge of your seat experience as you move through the verses, bridges, choruses, and back again. The blitzkrieg crunch against triplet hits during opener “Fragments” allows for a modern rock-like vocal chorus to capture rapt attention – beyond the fleet of finger lead break/dive bomb motions courtesy of guitarist Jonny Sloan. There’s a progressive nature at times to the guitar/drum interplay that contrasts against the dual screaming/clean vocal diversity under the professional tutelage of singer Ellen Hill – the natural talent for metal gripping through highlights like “Burned at the Stake” and “Fruit of the Poisoned Tree”. Most will be compelled to simulate incessant hair windmills or break out into circle pit activities all the way to the relentless ender “Bleed by Example” – squeezing out excess sweat while readying the next return playback.
Now that they’ve established demand for their craft, let’s hope that Moment of Clarity is the last time we only hear an EP’s worth of tracks from Kilonova. They have all the tools, songwriting knowledge, production/tone standards, and sheer will to capture audiences from young to old with this modern brand of melodic thrash. Keep your eyes on this quartet, aspects from Slayer to Kreator, Heathen to Iced Earth, as well as Trivium come up to the good here.