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Kruger

For Death, Glory, And The End Of The World

Written by: PP on 26/01/2010 21:46:20

Switzerland isn't known as the metal mecca of Europe by any means, but every now and then a band pops up from the country worthy of much praise and recognition outside the country as well. More often than not, it seems, the genre tends to be sludge, post-metal or something very close to those two. I don't know if it's the high-altitude Alpine climate or the big mountains all around, but it seems those are what the Swiss are exceptionally good at. Enter Lausanne-based Kruger, who have previously released a promising debut album three years ago and have since shared the stage with bands like Gojira, Isis, Cult Of Luna and many others. They've spent the latter part of the past decade crafting and fine-tuning a damn fine piece of post-metal: "For Death, Glory And The End Of The World".

Mixed by Converge's Kurt Ballou, the record possesses one of those claustrophobic, thick walls of sound where the vocalist roars like a beast over a sludgy atmosphere. The soundscape is humongous in size without resorting into hollow echo effects, allowing the layered instruments to do their bidding while droning forward. The result is a noisy, crushing sound that overwhelms the listener at all fronts, and though nearly all of the songs are past 5 minutes in length, they never overstay their welcome. This is because the vocalist's extended roars have a melodic ting to them, which creates lots of catchy moments, even though they otherwise follow the ideals of post-metal genre almost religiously. Check out "Duke Of Nothing"'s chorus section where the dynamic between the high-pitch tremolo guitars, the drummer, and the vocals is back-chillingly good.

Fans of bands as different as Cult Of Luna, Mastodon, High On Fire, Kylesa, Winters, Tombs, Isis, Neurosis and even Buried Inside should find numerous details to appreciate here, and why not even Gojira fans given how their vocalist Duplantier contributes guest vocals to "Muscle". Anyway, long story short, with "For Death, Glory And The End Of The World", this Swiss bunch demonstrates that they can play on equal terms with all the other post-metal heavyweights without having to be considered a second rate band. A very good sophomore album that has all the signs pointing towards a great 2010 and beyond for these guys.

Download: Duke Of Nothing, The Ox, Muscle
For the fans of: Mastodon, Kylesa, Neurosis, Isis, Cult Of Luna
Listen: Myspace

Release date 22.02.2010
Listenable Records