Khold - Krek

*=Staff's pick	Krek Blod Og Blek* Innestengt I Likekiste Oskorei Byrde* Lysets Flukt Grepet Om Kniven Midvinterblot Varde Silur Wie

Genre	Black Metal	Gard	Vocals
Tracks	10	Gard	Guitar
Runningtime	34 Min.	Rinn	Guitar
Label	Tabu Recordings	Grimd	Bass
Release	10 Oct. 2005	Sarke	Drums
Country	Norway	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Satyricon

Norwegian based band Khold have since the Masterpiss Of Pain from 2001 concentrated on what they do best. Namely cold and melancholy black metal, free from technical experiments and speed trips. Always very comfort, slow but safe seems to be the binding link in their works. Krek is their latest assault upon our world. Released, brewed and tapped on the norwegian label Tabu Recordings, a label that also nowadays has taken bands such as Susperia, Enslaved and Lumsk under their blackened wings.

Krek seem to follow the well-planned road, musically so to speak. Slow material with a extremely cold sound. The majority of their fans, I guess, love Khold for those things that are so obvious and make the identity for the band. A safe band, you know what you get. Well, I can't blame those who like this even though I think it's a bit to monotone sometimes. If it had been some band playing doom I wouldn't complain, in fact I think that the major parts of the material represented on Krek would have been just fine with a really fat and heavy doom production instead. But with the production now chosen, its nothing but weak and fragile. I guess that the purpose must be to make the listener feel in a certain way and send out some kind of signal. But I'm sorry, I get no feedback in any way from this. Except the cool bass lines on Grepet Om Kniven that lay like a carpet on thin ice.

The spoken language is norwegian, a choice that some times has shown to be a menace in a positive way. I guess that if the production had better and more well balanced this could have worked instead of the result. It sounds like the vocals are in another room or dimension and then they forgot to mix it. To bad though, since Gard's voice isn't bad and I know that it can sound as cruel as it was intended to. The influences from Satyricon work quite fine like on the groovy Blod Og Blek and Byrde, songs that are recommended together with the mighty introduction and beginning on Midvinterblot.

Conclusively, there isn't much to go nuts for on this album. Two good songs out of ten on an album with a total running time on thirty-four minutes are simply not good enough.

See also review of: Mörke Gravers Kammer

Production	Vocals	Compositions
6	4	4

Summary
4 chalices of 10 - Tim