You know those annoying stickers that Victory Records puts on CD covers that invite fans of really cool bands to check out a really shitty band by proclaiming similarities even though none exist? Think of this article as one of those, minus the sticker, CD, and shitty bands, and with some actual relevancy thrown in.

Nachtmystium have been receiving gobs of praise from the metal press (and with good reason) for their excellent release Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1, but Trondheim, Norway’s Keep of Kalessin are doing amazingly progressive things with the oftentimes staid black metal genre equally as well as their stateside brethren. The band has actually been around since 1993 and put out 5 albums before their most recent release Kolossus, which hit stores last month.

I can’t speak to their past releases and development as a band from album to album, but Kolossus is an intricate, deep, and captivating record. Kolossus combines black with elements of psych, prog and classic metal for a fresh brew, much in the same way Nachtmystium strays from the kvlter-than-thou black metal pack to create something way, way more interesting. Check out the video trailer below [via SMNnews.com], and if you aren’t sold yet then visit Keep of Kalessin’s MySpace for two full, monster tracks. You will be.

-VN