Konsortium, The: The Konsortium

Following the lead of the mysterious Ghost, The Konsortium are another Scandinavian band who hide their identities behind masks and outfits. Beyond the fact that this album features guitar work by ex-Mayhem man Teloch, little is known as to who is actually in The Konsortium. I'd wager there are some seasoned musicians here, though, as for a debut album the quality of the writing and performing is very assured.

The band's record label describe the music as 'aggressive and technical avant-garde black/thrash metal', which is good a description as any, I guess. Certainly, opener 'Gasmask Prince' fair gallops out of the blocks, a furious assault on the senses. Yet in between the blastbeats and growled vocals, there's room for some melody.

Within this overall sound, there is plenty of variety on display here; 'Under The Black Flag' incorporates some industrial elements and has an almost Fear Factory-like vibe; 'Decomposers' is a churning, doom metal-flavoured track, whilst the stand-out closer 'Tesla' is a progressive black metal epic, maintaining the listener's interest throughout its eight-odd minutes. Mixed in to all this is some disorientating, spacey weirdness (the 'avant-garde' element, no doubt) which strongly brings to mind the pioneering Norwegians Arcturus.

Not everything works on this album, and it is a little rough around the edges, but overall this is a satisfying debut release that shows that there is more to The Konsortium than a gimmicky image.

Track Listing
1. Gasmask Prince
2. Lik Ulven
3. Under The Black Flag
4. Decomposers
5. Knokkeklang
6. Slagens Barn
7. Onwards! Onwards!
8. Tesla

Added: July 11th 2011
Reviewer: Tom De Val
Score:
Related Link: Band MySpace Page
Hits: 2334
Language: english

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