Karybdis – ‘Samsara’ [Review]
Metal bands generally occupy one of several levels:
Level One: Total Beginners. Loose, sloppy, and rubbish. Need to spend more time in the woodshed and the rehearsal room.
Level Two: Getting Good. Tight; solid technique; cool but generic songs.
Level Three: Emerging Awesomeness. Indisputable technical mastery; heavy as God’s balls; mixing up genres and influences in a way that flows effectively.
Level Four: Genius. The kind of band you’ve absolutely never heard before in your life. A perfect mix of familiar tricks and something exotic, fresh, and totally new.
Karybdis are currently on Level Three – but on the evidence present on Samsara, they’re soon going to be ready to take it up that one final notch.
Brutality is a major focus for most modern metal bands, often to the point that grooves get either pushed onto the back burner or eliminated entirely in favour of ultra-quantized, frozen-stiff precision. Karybdis manage to bring out the best of both worlds through tracks like Rorschach; Constellations; Samsara‘s neuron-frying title track, and subterranean closer Absence – and for that, they deserve serious respect and recognition. On the constructively critical side, these guys are still at a point where despite the fact that they do dabble in a bit of everything, the end result inspires more of the equivalent of musical trainspotting (“Ahh – death metal lead lines! Sick double kick work!” etc) than the total, reverent immersion that a fiercely original and mind-bogglingly spectacular album does.
Listening to Samsara, there’s no doubting the fact that Karybdis are a deeply ambitious band – and that’s why although their best work still lies ahead of them, you should start getting acquainted with these guys ASAP.
TMMP RATING: 80%
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