KRAKOW ‘s upcoming album “Alive” will be released on March 24th by Dark Essence records. Featuring tracks recorded from their live show during last year at USF Verftet in Bergen 2016.
Maybe unknown to many, KRAKOW (from Bergen, Norway) managed to surprise and awe with their special approach to experimental post-metal genre. Their three albums “Monolith” (2009), “Diin” (2012) and “Amaran” (2015) show a clear evolution in their sonority. With their latest band lineup addition in 2012, Ask Ty Arctander (drummer; Kampfar), KRAKOW expanded even further into different musical categories.
“Amaran” was highly praised in the genre media as an extraordinary accomplishment, combining atmospheric and experimental drone sounds showing the band versatility. “Alive” is not as varied as “Amaran” and focus more in the calmer and introspective approach of their music. Worth mentioning that this acclaimed performance was done in an intense scenario, with the stage filled with laser shows, electronics and dual wielded drum kits.
With a total of almost 45 minutes, the album consists in the live performance of four tracks: “Monolith” (the title track of their 2009 album), “Vitriol” , “Of Earth” (both from “Amaran” album) and “Mound” (from “Diin” album). As a live show each of the tracks flows just into the following making it easier to get submersed in a kind of dreamy alternative reality.
“Monolith” a almost 14 minutes instrumental track sets the atmospheric mood for the upcoming songs. “Vitriol” brings the heaviness to the album, combining clean and harsh vocals and quite impressive percussion sections. “of Earth” continues in a more atmospherical droid tone, with some unconventional vocals that will maintain you focused in the album. “Mound” was chosen to end this album and surely doesn’t do it in an abrupt away. A balanced combination between all the elements that characterise the band are shown in this track. With the audience cheering in the background, this song goes from “calm to storm” and is prolonged as much as possible till it fades away smoothly.
For those not used to this genre, “Alive” might sound weird at start due to the drone sounds and unusual vocals. Don’t give up after the first minutes and you will notice that sooner than you expect the music will highjack your thoughts and make you lose track of time. Assuming that was exactly what this album aimed to capture, when it end, it might leave you with an empty but calm feeling, like after a really intense live perfomance.
After a proper listening to this album, one can wonder if the album tittle is only related to the fact of being a live album or for making you introspect about the fact you are alive.
