A veiled and secretive Slovenian horde is ready to attack armed with their debut opus, offering us all seven tracks of sheer Black Metal madness.
As a room’s confining embrace, the mysterious Slovenia-based Atmospheric/Experimental Black Metal entity Kamra grabs and plunges you in a world of allegories, ruminations and imagery with their upcoming debut full-length opus, entitled Cerebral Alchemy, following up on their 2021 EP Conversing With Ghosts (which was by the way recorded as a two-piece comprised of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist N.K. and multi-instrumentalist M.D., who are most probably still part of the band). Drawing influences equally from Norwegian Black Metal classics, modern death dealers, as well as experimental oddities, this Slovenian veiled and secretive horde, now expanded to five unknown creatures of the abyss, offers in their new album mixed by Anže Čanžek and mastered by Gabriele Gramaglia seven tracks clocking around 42 minutes of Black Metal madness, enriched with a beautiful artwork by by Jeff Christensen, being therefore highly recommended for admirers of the most obscure and dissonant side of music.
Stygian guitars and sluggish Doom Metal beats will consume your soul in the opening tune It Burns Without a Fire…, a sulfurous intro that will crush you mercilessly before such uncanny entity comes ripping in Death Eternal, a raw Black Metal onrush that’s utterly and beautifully primeval, with the wicked vocalizations by N.K. adding a touch of dementia to the overall result while its guitars and bass generate a massive wall of sounds, not to mention its old school Black Metal blast beats. Then after such demonic extravaganza get ready for almost eight minutes of impious sounds, atmospheric passages and endless darkness in the form of Lantern of Ghostly Unlight, where its bass sounds and feels as primitive as possible, and with N.K. gnarling like a demonic creature in a great display of classic Black Metal with the band’s own experimental and sulfurous twist.
Resurgence of Temporal Malignity is even more demented and multi-layered, showcasing a great job done on the guitars which sound absolutely sharp while also melodic and enfolding, taking us all on a one way journey to the pits of the underworld; and those Slovenian metallers dive deep into the mouth of hell in the spine-chilling aria entitled Oozing the Thirteenth Hour, starting in a serene, grim manner before exploding into more of the band’s Experimental Black Metal, with all of its vile vociferations, somber and tribalistic drums, and piercing riffage turning it into a must-listen for diehard fans of contemporary Black Metal. The simple but effective interlude Last Lamentations sets the tone for the closing track, titled Colossal Blight, where their Atmospheric Black Metal vein walks hand in hand with their more hellish sonority, once again presenting a band that not only sounds extremely focused and in sync, but it also displays their undisputed devotion to sheer darkness, resulting in an climatic and eccentric ending to the album.
The voices of Kamra are inviting you to their grim lair in Cerebral Alchemy, an album that will surely please Black Metal enthusiasts from all over the world. Hence, don’t forget to give those Slovenians a shout on Facebook and on Instagram, to stream their music on Spotify, and to connect with the band in all possible ways by clicking HERE. Soon you’ll be able to put your damned hands on Cerebral Alchemy by purchasing it from their own BandCamp page, as well as from Avantgarde Music, Sound Cave, Edged Circle Productions or Rock Inc. Mediastore, darkening your minds and souls even more while enjoying the first-class Black Metal by an enigmatic band that definitely knows how to craft great music in the name of pure evil.
Best moments of the album: Death Eternal, Resurgence of Temporal Malignity and Oozing the Thirteenth Hour.
Worst moments of the album: Last Lamentations.
Released in 2022 Avantgarde Music/Unorthodox Emanations/Edged Circle Productions
Track listing
1. It Burns Without a Fire… 2:20
2. Death Eternal 5:58
3. Lantern of Ghostly Unlight 7:47
4. Resurgence of Temporal Malignity 6:42
5. Oozing the Thirteenth Hour 9:46
6. Last Lamentations 1:59
7. Colossal Blight 7:54
Band members*
N.K. – vocals, drum programming
M.D. – guitar, keyboards, drum programming
*The other three members of the band are still unknown.