KLoAK
A True Bohemian Revolutionary
1.9
This is pretty bad; I’ll let you know right off the get go to save you some time OK? While hardcore/metalcore has seen a meteoric rise on these shores, the crazy Europeans, despite erstwhile efforts (FearMyThoughts, Cataract, and stuff on Gangstyle Records), generally aren’t quite up to the levels of the US efforts yet. Bands like Denmark’s KLoak are not helping things either, by virtue of an eccentric, off beat approach to the genre that involves typically European eclectic elements thrown into the mix, KLoak simply emphasis why the US is better at it. This album is by design is a hardcore/noise-core offshoot, with heavy ambient elements, off the wall song structures and forced Acid trip like ventures into weirdness and it just doesn’t do anything for me at all. Those with a more adventurous ear, and those drawn to song titles like “80% Bassimus”, “18 Hz Party”, and “Contact 12”, might dig it. This is the kind of music I imagine Sprockets from SNL fame would listen to if he were ‘metal’. The whole album from the artwork, song titles, lyrics and general oddball overload, just comes across as an exercise in forced musical histrionics, without any kind of feel for song structures, transitions or dynamics. The end result comes across like a bad Isis knock off with an Art Degree. Throw in some “Korn-isms” like the main riffs and general sound of “Thermopacked” and “100”, and it makes for actually one of the worse albums I’ve heard in a while. I’m all for adventurous musical approaches and genre bending, but I just get the impression these Danes aren’t really ‘serious’ about their music, but more concerned with being ‘different’. The fact they're on an offshoot label of Mighty Music kinda justifies this. The two-minute “instrumental” “18 Hz Party”, that involves various distortions over continual screaming just blatantly displays how far KLoak miss the mark with their attempted genre escapism. Add the simple lack of memorable songs, vocals that alternate between an annoying whine, and a rather respectable roar (the most acceptable part of the music), and the whole affair becomes pretty grating. Of course it’s completely possible that I’m a close minded death metal moron with no ability to comprehend anything outside of my chosen genres. But I like to think I can spot the difference between a good album and a bad album, regardless of genre, and frankly “A True Bohemian Revolutionary” lacks any redeeming qualities whatsoever as a musical entity. It's sad when the chunky Nu metal style riffs that surface once in a while, are the album's high points. At least country mates Mnemic combine solid well produced riffs, albeit cloned, but KLoak simply strike me as ‘beat nick’ artists trying to make extreme music, and failing miserably. Coaster of the year.
