Krallice — Mass Cathexis
Every subsequent album by Krallice, New York’s avant-garde metal chimera, better utilizes each members instruments. Starting their canon with guitar-centric progressive black metal, they expanded their sound with 2015’s Ygg Huur by introducing more knotted riffs and compact song structures. The change in sound allowed Nick McMaster’s bass in particular to shine as one part rhythmic powerhouse and subtle melodic voice. 2017’s back to back releases saw the band experimenting further. Loum was supercharged with renewed fury courtesy of guest vocalist Dave Edwardson, while Go Be Forgotten was symphony powered by prominent, shimmering synthesizers. Each of their albums post-Years Past Matter highlights specific components of their sound, and follows them to whatever extreme conclusion they come up with. If Krallice’s second career phase consists of these experimental samplings, then Mass Cathexis sees the band pushing themselves to create more holistic sonic pallet by synthesizing these disparate elements across the album’s 40 minute duration.
“Feast on the Blood of Rats” launches the record with urgency. Slick dual guitar riffs weave together amidst thundering bass grooves and blast beats. It’s one of the most conventionally Krallice tracks on the album; grand and high energy, if more dissonant than their early material, but the band doesn’t linger in their black metal styling for long. “Set” and “The Wheel” deliver a one two punch with bass heavy tech-death grooves that Krallice previously explored on their most recent EP “Wolf”. Yet unlike that prior release, the compositions flow more seamlessly, eschewing their past work’s jarring stops and starts. It’s still angular, ugly music, but the stripped back instrumentation brings the focus on the excellent songwriting to create something much greater than the sum of its parts.
Each song on Mass Cathexis features a distinct musical theme, whether it’s domineering synths leads or breakneck slam riffing on the title track. The latter once again features Dave Edwardson on vocals, recalling 2017’s Loum, but Marston’s writing here feels like a tech-death version of Mayhem’s “Grand Declarations of War”, complete with fractured, seemingly half formed riffs and skittering drum fills all of which swirl around a rhythmic ostinato. This is Krallice at their absolute heaviest, and it’s an appropriate climax to the album’s taut first half. That’s when things get a little weird. If the band had been gunning the accelerator to gain more speed, more tension, then it’s the album’s back half where they sail off a cliff, suspended in freefall. “The Form” features a haunting duel bass interplay between Colin Marston and Nick McMaster. The two bob and weave to create and eerie, amorphous melody that’s bolstered by dungeon synth horns and Lev Weinstein’s vital drumming. A complete heel turn like this may have been a mere interlude for almost any other band, but Krallice absolutely commit. When Mick Barr’s guitar fires up once more towards the track’s close, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the band’s mastery of delineating legible emotions from esoteric sounds.
The album’s greatest strength is how deftly and confidently it rotates through Krallice’s different phases, while still pushing into some new territory. “Mass Cathexis” is the most musically diverse the band has ever been across one record, and it’s impressive that they retain their musical identity throughout each of the many detours they take. The flip side to creating a such a songwriting mosaic is that, despite their best attempt at synthesis, the album breezes through it’s 40 minute run time and only leaves me wanting more. It’s not that the record doesn’t cohere or isn’t well paced. Rather, the it’s that the musical anchor for the album lies in a familiarity with Krallice’s back catalog rather than strictly on the album itself. The effect is that “Mass Cathexis” is a fascinating listen, especially for Krallice fans, but ultimately feels like their first stab at something new.
