Keep Of Kalessin – Katharsis

Keep Of Kalessin caused a bit of a stir with the release of their 2006 album ‘Armada’. Even though their origins dated back to 1993 and the Trondheim, Norway band had already released a couple of well received albums, it felt as if ‘Armada’ was the first album to reach wider audiences. Indeed, the furious picking heavy Black Metal revolving around mastermind Obsidian Claw’s trademark riff style combined with more epic choruses was quite a catchy and blazing record. And even though the ‘Reclaim EP’ and debut ‘Through Times of War’ are still my favourite records by the band, to this day I still appreciate ‘Armada’ for what it was.

After ‘Armada’ the band followed with the similar, slightly more riff-oriented ‘Kolossus’ and equally challenging ‘Reptilian’. After that record some changes in personnel caused Obsidian Claw to take on vocal duties as well, and it in the end had its effect on the sound of the band. ‘Epistemology’ featured a little bit more keyboards than before, but the largest change was the prominent appearance of the clean vocals and hoarse singing, inevitably further highlighting the Thrash and Heavy Metal roots of the riffs.

Following up on ‘Epistemology’ is the most recent album ‘Katharsis’, released in March 2023. And that album can be considered a logical follow-up, although some shifts in sound can be heard. The base is still Black Metal with raging drums and the trademark Keep Of Kalessin riffs. On the newest album, the keyboards have taken up a larger role, both in the shape of background harmonies as well as spacey atmospheric and symphonic elements. Take for instance ‘War of the Wyrm’, which has a flair of later Dimmu Borgir records.  To compensate for a more prominent role for the keyboards, the riffs are a little bit more straightforward than on the previous records. As with the predecessor, the Heavy and Thrash Metal structures in Obsidian Claw’s riffs are more distinguishable than ever, or at least, on the older album these were more organically blended as a whole. The epic choruses with clean vocals are still prominently present as well, although the vocals feel slightly harsher than on ‘Epistemology’.

While in essence ‘Katharsis’ follows in the line set out on with ‘Armada’ and sounds as a logical follow-up to ‘Epistemology’, there are some things to remark about the latest album. On the last few albums, it seems the epic component of the music is a little bit forced into the formula, with songs following a predictable pattern and the songs nearing Power Metal on frequent occasions. Listen for example to ‘From the Stars and Beyond’, which feels poured a bit too much in a certain mould. Not to mention the ballad ‘Journey’s End’, which you might expect on a German Heavy/Power Metal record instead. The opening riffs in a song like ‘Throne of Execration’ sound great and like vintage Keep Of Kalessin, and the melancholic solo works great in that song, but the overdone choruses are just detracting from it. This is highlighted especially as lately there have been many bands that have rejuvenated a symphonic and epic Black Metal sound without compromising and sounding forced, with Stormkeep as perhaps the best example of how these elements can be blended with great success.

While I’m sure that there is a wide audience that appreciates that about the band’s music and personally I think ‘Katharsis’ is a better record than ‘Epistemology’, the connection to their roots has become even thinner. So if you intend to give this record a go, by all means do so, but if you came from their earlier records, do keep in mind that ‘Katharsis’ is quite a departure towards the more epic and symphonic Black Metal with nods to Heavy Metal compared to ‘Armada’ and ‘Kolossus’, let alone compared to Keep Of Kalessin’s earliest days.