Brazil's death metal trio Krisiun have long been one of the more dependable acts on the scene, blasting out one quality album after another for 20 years now, and always a powerhouse live act no matter how much time they are given on stage. For their eight studio album, Forged in Fire, the band seem to have toned town the technicality just a tad, and gone for a more straightforward death metal attack. You can especially hear this in the riffs of Moyses Kolesne, as he's delivering lots of chug in songs such as "Ways of Barbarism" and "Scars of the Hatred" instead of blazing complexity. Fear not though, there's still enough of that tech-death to satisfy longtime fans, experienced best on "Dogma of Submission", "Soulless Impaler", and the intense "Oracle of the Ungod", the latter seeing Max Kolesne flailing away in his normal machine-like fashion. Bassist Alex Camargo's growls here are like a cross between the bark of Down's Phil Anselmo and Vader's main man Peter, making him easily understood for the most part, though slightly reserved from previous albums. For some that's going to be a good thing, for others perhaps not. "Timeless Starvation" might just be the sleeper song on the album, a pulverizing, riff-tastic blast of behemoth death metal, the trio working overtime on the grooves, the riffs, and the arrangements with fantastic results.
Not as out and out furious as past efforts, Forged in Fire is still a mighty fine and fearsome album from one of Brazil's best extreme metal acts. I kind of like the slightly tempered feel here, as it adds a different element to their sound when non-stop blasting has already been done to death. A solid release for sure that any death metal fan should enjoy.
Track Listing
1. Scars of the Hatred
2. Ways of Barbarism
3. Dogma of Submission
4. Strength Forged in Fury
5. Soulless Impaler
6. Burning of the Heretic
7. The Isolated Truth
8. Oracle of the Ungod
9. Timeless Starvation
10. Milonga de la Muerte
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