Keep of Kalessin – Reptilian (2010) Review

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What a relief! The latest Keep of Kalessin album is good. I was scared out of my mind when I listened to “The Dragontower,” which was released as a single before the album came out. I can imagine true fans freaking out when they heard this playing on European radio (do people still listen to the radio?). Luckily, that track is the low-point of the album. It is a smack in the face for Norwegian black metal. Anyway, enough ranting about how much “The Dragontower” sucks. The album is really solid otherwise.

Let’s start by talking about the aggression level. One of the things that I have always loved about Keep of Kalessin is their intensity. They really get me ready for battle. Their Armada album rocks so much that it can strip the paint right off the wall. Kolossus had some great songs, even some that sounded like battle marches, but the overall aggression was toned down a bit. On Reptilian, the aggression comes and goes. Sometimes the dragon has teeth, and sometimes he does not.

Next, I need to address these keyboards. I know they have used a little keyboard here and there before, but they are a bit more prominent on this release.  I can’t complain, as they don’t get in the way on most of the tracks. They are mostly used to add “epicness” to tracks like “Dark as Moonless Night” and “Reptilian Majesty.” You will hear them on the other songs as well, softening the dragon’s bite a little and thickening the sound.

The first thee songs are an amazing onslaught of blasting black metal. Fast guitar lines, blast beats, and some epic melodies start us off right. These songs are heavier than anything on the Kolossus album and even remind me a bit of their Armada album. Then we come to “The Dragontower.” You know how I feel about this one. I imagine that if someone who doesn’t know anything about black metal came across this track and listened to it he might think, “Hey, this is interesting,” and then get turned on to heavier music. Perhaps it is a gateway drug. Or, perhaps some record executive held a gun to the band members’ heads and yelled, “Make something simplistic and sucky so we can sell millions of records to stupid people and bathe in the money we make.” It’s probably a combination of both. They performed “The Dragontower” on Eurovision, and I’ll bet that a lot of the audience hadn’t heard of them before. Some will say that they sold out. I’ll say the same when they release an entire album that sounds like “The Dragontower.”

Next we have “Leaving the Mortal Flesh,” another blasting song in the normal Keep of Kalessin style (nothing wrong with this at all). “Dark as Moonless Night” slows things down a bit.  Thebon also lowers his voice a little and does a bit of growling. It’s a different sound that I am used to hearing on a Keep of Kalessin album, but it’s not bad.

“The Divine Land” and the final track, “Reptilian Majesty” combine all the elements used throughout “Reptilian.” We have blast beats, fast rhythms, epic “keyboardy” portions, and slower, more melodic moments that swell back into thick “keyboardy” moments. They are pretty good.

If you are a huge Keep of Kalessin fan you need to know that this is not Armada but it is about as good as Kolossus and even sometimes more intense.

It rocks. Check it out.

Keep of Kalessin - Reptilian (2010) Review, 9.0 out of 10 based on 2 ratings

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