Bleak.
Andrew | Michigan, USA | 02/25/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"US black metal is essentially a good thing - I mean, you have guys taking chord patterns rooted in drone and doom with inspiring dissonance playing around with black metal cosmetics; the outcome is quite pleasant. I may be jumping the gun a bit, however, Krohm is perhaps the best stuff I've heard from the US, even topping label-mates Xasthur and Leviathan. It's dissonant like most USBM, yet also possess a quality of spectral beauty and emotional vividness. The sound is, overall, very ghostly and will make one feel devoid of life yet explode with visceral emotional energy, which is a common reaction to semi-nihilistic music.
Oh, and the stuff is much slower than most black metal, which was a welcomed surprise. Instead of fooling around with blast-beats and double-bass patterns throughout the songs, Numinas (whom is Krohm) adds a sort of droning quality to the music by having us drown in black pools is mid-paced despair. Granted, most black metal of the organic form is trance-like to begin with, however, consistent blasting and 4/4 double-bass patterns can become monotonous (in the negative sense).
This is extremely good stuff that should perhaps best stay where it is as being a utterly black void that will suck all dry of life. Anti-life, probably pro-Nietzsche and ultimately a winner in a world of losers ... enjoy!"
Douglas Hernandez | 03/03/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This band takes a slow, agonizing approach to their music, working on a particular riff and playing it over and over. Through minimalistic passages, sinister atmospheres are achieved. The songs run mostly from slow to mid tempo, and the monotonousness might bore some people. You have to be a fan of raw, doom-ish black metal the way bands like Xasthur play it to be able to appreciate this."
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1