New York’s Krallice seem to be a polarizing band, for reasons which are no doubt silly, and won’t be investigated here. What can be said is that Krallice has certainly made a name for themselves, extending outside of the deep extreme metal underground. So good on them for their success. A listen to their debut outing, the great self-titled 2008 release, shows a band of super talented musicians delivering some unique riff-centric, atmospheric and experimental black metal. Catching up with Krallice now on their fifth album shows a different side of the band, albeit utterly self-affirming.
If black metal is what you’re expecting, you won’t find that on Ygg Huur. What we have in 2015 is a band flexing their progressive death metal muscles, black metal is but an afterthought. Angular as all get-out are the riffs which comprise this release, with very little in the way of repetition, or any sort of dynamic. The energy, tempo and pace rarely deviate from the frenzied and compact, spastic rhythms as heard on track two’s “Wastes of Ocean”. Basically a study in jagged riffing moving a hundred miles an hour, discordant tones, pained screams and tons of fancy, tech-metal drumming. Actually, that sums up Ygg Huur as a whole.
It’s disingenuous to state that Ygg Huur is devoid of melody. It has lots, in little pieces – a thousand small segments of ugly, atonal riffs (performed with the utmost musical dexterity, this can’t be overstated) are the links which make this chain whole. One of the problems is that none of them carry any kind of staying power or memorability. This makes it nearly impossible to point to any one track and identify the high points of the album. Impressive? yes…enjoyable? no.