Tag Archives: d.k.

Album Review – Kamra / Unending Confluence (2025)

Posted on by
Reply

This uncanny Slovenian Black Metal beast will attack your senses with a complete madness of riffs, intricate drumming, flowing bass and multifaceted vocals, allowing you to dream of death.

Touching the borders where Black Metal has experimented in the 90’s but daring to go further with combining that with fleshy parts of Death Metal within a truly dark atmosphere, Unending Confluence, the new offering by Slovenian Atmospheric/Experimental Black Metal entity Karma, is unrelenting, brutal, beautiful and mentally unstable. Recorded at MH Dungeon, mixed by Anže Čanžek, mastered by Gabriele Gramaglia at Crepuscular Sound Studio, and displaying a stunning artwork painting by Jeff Christensen, with layout and design by Nik Košar and Tryfar, the follow-up to their 2022 debut Cerebral Alchemy showcases an overdose of darkness and madness by N.K. on vocals and keyboards, M.D. on the guitars and keyboards, J.B. on the guitar, L.B. on bass, and D.K. on drums, a true celebration of life and death through six unrelenting songs.

When an album starts with a song that surpasses the eight-minute mark like Unlightment you know you’re in for a treat, and such an insane Slovenian cult makes sure they slowly build up the atmosphere before starting their obscure mass, with D.K. demolishing his drums in the name of Black Metal. Then the raspy, demonic vociferations by N.K. and the Stygian riffage by M.D. and J.B. will darken your minds and thoughts in Cavernal Rebirth of Ends, another multi-layered aria of total fuckin’ darkness. After two intense tunes it’s time for the serene Owlgrowth, with parts of it being recorded in May 2020 in forests of Bled, creating a dark embrace to capture our souls forever before they crush our damned bodies once again with Weaver’s Bane, where the cryptic, gnarling vocals by N.K. sound even more demented. Of Pillars, Walls and Mutilation is one of the most insane and experimental creations of the current Black Metal scene worldwide, with the bass and drums by L.B. and D.K., respectively, oozing of obscurity and sulfur, and the album ends with the disruptive, dissonant Dreams of Veiled Veins, where the band’s fusion of Black and Death Metal with avantgarde elements works majestically.

A complete madness of riffs, intricate drumming, flowing bass and a multifaceted vocals, Unending Confluence allows you to dream of death. Hence, you can get to know more about such an uncanny five-headed creature on Facebook and on Instagram, stream their idiosyncratic creations on Spotify, and of course add their new black mass to your private collection by purchasing it from their BandCamp, as well as from the Avantgarde Music’s BandCamp or from Sound Cave. Unending Confluence is dark, heavy, atmospheric, mysterious and diverse, while at the same time keeping a raw and primeval vibe exactly like we enjoy in such a distinguished genre, and after two incredible albums we can rest assured the voices of Kamra will keep echoing to all four corners of the earth for many years to come.

Best moments of the album: Unlightment, Cavernal Rebirth of Ends and Of Pillars, Walls and Mutilation.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2020 Avantgarde Music

Track listing
1. Unlightment 8:58
2. Cavernal Rebirth of Ends 8:40
3. Owlgrowth 3:07
4. Weaver’s Bane 6:54
5. Of Pillars, Walls and Mutilation 7:04
6. Dreams of Veiled Veins 6:02

Band members
N.K. – vocals, keyboards
M.D. – guitar, keyboards
J.B. – guitar
L.B. – bass
D.K. – drums

Guest musicians
David Kocmur – additional keyboards

Album Review – Melan Selas / Zephyrean Hymns (2023)

Posted on by
Reply

This uncanny Greek Black Metal duo is ready to unleash their sophomore opus, assaulting the listener by raging riffs and eerie screams while at times engrossed in seductive vocals travelling with dreamy melodies.

“A new dimension… Great new meaning.”

Consisting of eight songs that create a unique atmosphere, assaulting the listener by raging riffs and eerie screams while at times engrossed in seductive vocals travelling with dreamy melodies, Zephyrean Hymns is the sophomore opus by Trikala, Greece-based Black Metal duo Melan Selas, the follow-up to their 2019 debut effort Φάος. Formed in 2015 by D.K. (Riffobia, Katavasia), who handles all instruments, and Astraea (Oletir), responsible for all vocals and lyrics, the duo aims at breathing new life into the Black Metal scene with their new album, all embraced by the first-class recording and mixing by D.K. and Astraea themselves, the crisp mastering by Achilleas Kalantzis at Suncord Audiolab, and the stylish logo and layout by Nikos Tsiolis.

D.K. generates a dense and grim atmosphere from the very first second in Mountain Tops while Astraea showcases all her versality going from Stygian clean vocals to demonic gnarls, resulting in an excellent display of modern-day Melodic Black Metal, followed by Frozen Lake, more imposing and detailed than the opening tune where D.K. does a great job with his classic Black Metal riffs and beats, providing Astraea with all she needs to darkly shine on vocals. Let’s keep banging our heads and raising our horns to the visceral Black Metal by Melan Selas in Humble Soil, where the piercing riffs by D.K. and the obscure growling by Astraea will darken your soul for all eternity, whereas a lot more vicious and infernal, the duo will hammer our heads with all of their strength in Trumpets of War, offering our ears a perfect hybrid of classic Black Metal with modern-day Atmospheric Black Metal and nuances of other styles such as Death and Thrash Metal.

In Dreadful Dome, D.K. builds a stunning background with his rumbling bass, pounding drums and hellish riffs while Astraea continues to vociferate like a true she-demon. Put differently, there’s not a single second of peace, it’s total fuckin’ darkness for our absolute delight; and get ready for almost seven minutes of darkness, melancholy and insanity in Darkened Cliff, starting with the Stygian clean vocals by Astraea and getting more and more anguished as the music progresses, while the sound crafted by D.K. lives up to the legacy of old school Black Metal. In the shortest of all tracks, titled Wanderer, Astraea will hypnotize you and drag you to her sinister lair forever, an obscure tune that will set the stage for the duo to kill one last time in Ancient Scrolls, bringing to our avid ears the slashing riffage by D.K. and the beautiful, evil gnarls by Astraea, closing the album on a high and devilish note.

“A quest through space and time, an ascension to something greater… Zephyrean Hymns lead our cause.” This is what the duo had to say about their new album, and if you want to show them your utmost support you can start following them on Facebook for all things Melan Selas, and purchase a copy of the awesome Zephyrean Hymns from The Circle Music’s webstore as a luxurious box embossed in silver (limited to 100 copies), a beautiful LP (limited to 500 copies), or an A5 digipak CD (also limited to 500 copies), or you can also click HERE to grab your favorite version of the album, plus several other retailers including Fantotal.de and Juno. A gentle breeze is flowing from the stunning Athens; however, you better be prepared because it’s not just any breeze, but a Black Metal one, courtesy of the multi-talented D.K. and Astraea, who together are proudly carrying the torch of Greek extreme music anywhere they go armed with their stylish and captivating new album and ,consequently, embracing our damned souls without a single drop of mercy.

Best moments of the album: Frozen Lake, Trumpets of War and Darkened Cliff.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2023 The Circle Music

Track listing
1. Mountain Tops 5:31
2. Frozen Lake 5:42
3. Humble Soil 5:45
4. Trumpets of War 5:04
5. Dreadful Dome 5:02
6. Darkened Cliff 6:46
7. Wanderer 2:44
8. Ancient Scrolls 6:50

Band members
Astraea – vocals
D.K. – all instruments