Krallice: Diotima (2011)

Black metal has always had pretensions and intentions, bad ones at that, but the past few years has seen the rise of so called "hipster" metal. This is a metal that appeals to the scraggly bearded, arms folded in scrutiny at the mosh pit type youngsters who might have at one time listened to Sonic Youth to get their hipster points; who aspire to so-called high art through low brow means. This has so far been the domain of sludgy sounding bands like Isis and Big Business, but lately, bands like Krallice and Liturgy have invaded black metal's negative space with their forward thinking and downtown attitudes.

But the case with Krallice, innovating in a genre where experimentation and mutation are the norm not the exception, their approach is to strip down the sound, tone down the evil elements somewhat, and replace with vaguely jazzy, chimey chords. The pacing and tempo is unrelenting as any Darkthrone album, and the vocals range from high pitching shrieks to demon growls, but the chording, like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, suggests something almost hopeful, which is a new element in this most nihilistic, as well as ambient, of musics.

The lyric sheet, suggests something more hopeful as well, and referencing certain philosophies and mythologies and is quite, well, pretentious:

"Beyond the realm of will, while the living self
Fragments into quanta
Is this the next step? Minds disolved in the
Aether, a split species"

"Diotima, your sun, the more beautiful age, has
gone down
and now the storms quarrel in frost-covered
night"

"Petrifying the cast-offs of time
Seeking the balance
Acknowledge the dust and light
Acknowledge divinity's mortality"

And so on.

All in all, a high-minded, abstract, if slighty overblown, whirlwind of a black metal album. May require repeated listenings to obtains it's groove.

Rating: 8 out of 10