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KRALLICE RETURN WITH ANOTHER SHOT OF NYC BLACK METAL

 Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 11:00am by

Krallice - Dimensional BleedthroughPrior to having my mind blown by Krallice at this past February’s Scion Rock Fest in Atlanta, I’d written off the NYC-based black metal quartet as Hipster Metal. Boy was I wrong. Anton OyVey and I stood in absolute astonishment as a band whose set we’d happened upon out of curiosity completely blew us away and stole the show of the entire day. That their brand new song has premiered on Stereogum doesn’t do much to dispel the “hipster” tag from much of their fanbase, but it doesn’t mean you should pay any less attention to them; Krallice are the real deal and they’re fucking fantastic. Besides which, I’m starting to doubt the very notion of “hipster metal” anyway; what about a band that writes music and lives together in the woods of the Pacific Northwest makes them any more genuine and qualified to write black metal than a band whose members grew up in the rough and tumble concrete jungle of 1980s New York? Both seem like perfectly genuine and inspiring influences to me.

Case in point: the 11-minute title track of their new record Dimensional Bleedthrough, out November 10th on Profound Lore. As Stereogum’s Brandon Stosuy says, “Such fucking riffs!”, and that’s exactly it. For those new to Krallice, the band features Colin Marston of Behold…the Arctopus and Dysrhythmia, Mick Barr of Orthrelm, Bloody Panda’s Lev Weinstein, and now full-time bassist/co-vocalist Nick McMaster. Stream the new track at Stereogum, then come on back here and tell us what you think.

-VN

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  • http://www.thejamminjabber.com thejamminjabber

    Anything involving Colin Marston = awesome.

  • http://www.cerebralmetalhead.com Satan Rosenbloom

    Let go of the “hipster metal” notion. Brandon Stosuy happens to write for Stereogum and Pitchfork, and he’s been a longtime champion and active promoter of black metal (See his “Show No Mercy” columns and concerts for Pitchfork). Anyone who doubts his cred or sincerity is an asshole. Same goes for every single member of Krallice.

    We like arguments about authenticity because we like ownership. Nobody owns Krallice — or rather, everybody does. The notion of “authenticity” is a marketing tool. Use it as a compass and you’re not gonna have a lot to listen to, and you’ll probably have a nervous breakdown when you hear something new and interesting. The music moves you or it doesn’t.

    In any case, this new Krallice song rules, the artwork rules even harder, and I’m very much looking forward to the album, just like anything from Profound Lore.

    ::descends from soapbox::

    • Gary S.

      Shut up, hipster!

    • Nick A.

      Agreed. Metal fans should worry less about what is true or legit or ‘real’ metal and concentrate on the music. Or better yet, their own lives and how they live allowing the music to become part and parcel of someones life. Music is not an end in itself. As far as I’m concerned Wolves and the crust punks who squat in an abandoned basement are more metal than your average cannibal corpse fan because not because of their tastes, but because rather than talking about this or that, they live it. I overheard a guy at Dudefest talking shit on a guy who just got bloodied in the pit because he didnt like his tshirt. The notions of authenticity and ownership is a fallacy in itself. Anyone can buy anything– the NYC day trader can buy a Burzum record via paypal– thus becoming part ‘owner’ of a band, disspelling anyone who thinks a particular subset of people cannot like something, or are false/posing if they purport to enjoy something.

  • Matt

    Pacific Northwest? Do you know where Norway is? This band sounds like they have talent and I’m sure they’re great live….. but they also sound like a less impressive Enslaved.

  • heebman169

    just had my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday and that first riff just made all the pain go away. thanks krallice and metalsucks!

  • http://www.kingdomofnoise.blogspot.com MetalMatt

    Black metal is very hit or miss for me. This is a hit.

    The guy above says that they sound like a less impressive Enslaved. Hmmmm…
    I didn’t like the new Enslaved but I like this. How weird am I?

  • Tommy Lindbergsen

    American black metal is kind of lame.
    When I think of black metal done right, I think of Norway or Italy.
    Like so many American metal bands, this does nothing for me.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-Guzmn/570745539 Daniel Guzmán

      =/

  • http://www.hibernum.net hibernum

    Yet another black metal band that doesn’t get it. Pass.

  • groverXIII

    If they sound like Enslaved, I think I’ll be alright with it. Their last album is actually in my new music queue, still.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kim-Kelly/10515129 Kim Kelly

    I love these guys, love their music, and love their attitude towards metal. They’re one of the best bands the modern USBM scene has to offer, and anyone that writes them off as “hipster” metal clearly hasn’t listened to the music. Some of their fans live in Williamsburg and wear flannel; plenty more live in far rougher areas and wear Archgoat shirts. As much of an elitist prick as I admittedly am, even I’ve got to say that, in this case, none of that stuff matters – Krallice are a fantastic band, and have nowhere to go but up. Mad love.

    • nick a.

      again, not to be rude but who fucking cares what someone wears. maybe its because i live in the midwest, but i wear flannel and i was/am in crust punk bands (skullhammer, et al). am i still a poser/hipster. god when i hear this shit, it makes me think metal/punk fans are no better than accountants who look down on people because they have patches and tattered clothes. stop worrying about what clothes people wear. why put so much energy in trying to find differences between people, in distancing yourself from someone else? if someone is at a krallice/bm show, you have alot more in common than you think. probably more than differences.

  • Io

    I fucking love Krallice. They stole the show when they opened for Watain awhile back.

  • http://runningthevoodoodown.blogspot.com pdf

    I love Behold…the Arctopus, I like a lot of Dysrhythmia’s stuff, and I fucking worship Orthrelm, and yet Krallice does nothing for me.

  • \m/Eluveitie\m/

    I always thought Mick Barr was a pretty tasteless guitarist, Krallice isn’t bad though

  • PrometheusOnFire

    Saw them open for Wolves in ATL-the one where Wolves blew out a city block of power during their sound check.. Great band, great group of guys.

  • SourDeez

    Colin Marston is doing so much for the metal scene in New York it’s ridiculous. I saw Krallice open for Wolves in Webster Hall’s basement space, and they fucking killed it. I recently had the pleasure of checking out this band Liturgy at Precious Metal (every Monday at the Lit Lounge, a must if you live in or anywhere near NYC), and they blew my mind. They absolutely looked like your classic Brooklyn hipster douchebags, but when they started playing I heard some of the nastiest black metal I’ve ever heard. I bought their album, and of course it was recorded and mastered by Colin Marston. A lot of these hipster-looking bands are making some really good metal. It just goes to show that judging a book by it’s cover is not something you can do if you want to hear good music.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-Guzmn/570745539 Daniel Guzmán

    Love the new track I hope the new album is as good as this song, their debut was good but the only song that really caught me was Molec Codices.

  • John Jaspers

    Satan Rosenbloom – probably a hipster Metalhead

    Krallice – fake hipster BM.

    Sorry.