Last year around this time, a Unique Leader release by the band Katalepsy set the brutal death world on edge with their album Autopsychosis; it also ended up as one of my top 5 albums of the year. Now early in 2014, label mates The Kennedy Veil have tried to once again recreate what Katalepsy did. While their new album lacks quite the genre-rattling effects of Autopsychosis, it’s a beast of an album that has all the muscle needed to stand on its own.
“Ad Noctum” starts the party off right, with some raging blast beats and the roaring vocals of Taylor Wientjes. The guitar riffs flail and run up and down the fret board at dizzying speeds, building up to a nice slam at the 1 minute mark. Then it’s back to the frenetic antics and drums that seem to come from all directions. The production on this album is phenomenal, and greatly adds to the powerful effects of the music on display. Guitarist KC Childers is flying solo on this one, but his talent and riff-changing ability is downright impressive.
The next few tracks are basically just a mash of this same recipe, and while they do start to run together, there’s just enough variation to keep things fresh. Some listeners might be turned off by Wientjes’ vocals, as they tend to creep into the core territory at times. “Beneath the Shroud of Atonement” sees the band back off a bit during the opener, and “King of Slaves” is probably the grooviest track, but overall there aren’t many breaks on this album, as the band is content trying to set land-speed records. You’ll usually get a chug or a quick slam about halfway through the songs, but the blasts come right back before you’ll get much chance to breathe. Most all of the tracks are in the sub-three minute mark, so none of them overstay their welcome.
If you’re a fan of the Beneath the Massacre-Hour of Penance style of raging brutal tech-death madness, you’ll definitely dig this. Definitely a solid start to the year, and a worthy addition to a label that has become the gold standard for all things brutal.