Review: Karla Kvlt ‘Thunderhunter’
If I mentioned the term ‘dream doom’ would it immediately make sense, spark curiosity, or leave you completely oblivious? Think of a fusion between Windhand and Blackwater Holylight, infused with sludgy, droning alternative doom, and you’ll land close to the sound this moniker evokes while leading you straight to the doorstep of Karla Kvlt.
It’s these concepts you will need to hold close if you are going to give yourself to Karla Kvlt and survive the ride. As for the band themselves, the trio consists of father, Markus E. Lipka, and son, Johann Wientjes, with added daughter-in-law, Teresa Matilda Curtens, for good measure. It is the culmination of high-quality concepts, a rich heritage of the genre and a willingness to defy gravity and soar for a sonic experience which will propel you onto another realm of existence.
Now, if you’ve gotten this far, and you are ready to hear more, let me guide you over the band’s debut album, Thunderhunter, which is out on the 21st February. It’s an opus made up of seven lusciously dark tracks, which will carry an air of dark moroseness across your very bones from the opening seconds of track one to the dying moments of number seven.
Weighing in at just thirty-seven minutes, it’s a not for the faint-hearted, so if you aren’t well versed in doomy drone, then this isn’t a ride you will happily endure, for the rest of us though, who like the darker side of life, you are gonna fucking love this.
Equal parts despairing as it is dreamy, no two listens end up the same. It’s an album which invites you in and will leave you pondering its existence long after its finale. For me personally, I’ve had this album on loop for the last couple of weeks, and each time I’ve not been able to separate beginning from end. It flows so effortlessly that unless you deliberately leave it to stop at the close of track seven, it will play on indefinitely, with no start or end.
It isn’t the kind of album you would put on in the car as you would miss the nuances which make it so charming, so give it your undivided attention as, like me, you will become intoxicated by its power. There’s a real otherworldly, magical feel to it all, some kind of crazy voodoo enchantment going on, which my mere words won’t fully explain, this is a spiritual experience, not merely a sensical one.
they are here to crush your very soul with a sonic chokehold that will literally drain the spirit right out of you…
Straight from the opening seconds of the first track, Karma, we are drawn in by a rhythmical time signature drum pattern, slow and cathartic, which makes way for a drudgy bass and guitar accompaniment within the first couple of minutes. Adding to that, Teresa Matilda Curtens dreamy ethereal vocals float in and tie together our first foray into the world of Karla Kvlt, it’s both imposing and enchanting.
Track two, Temple, only serves to solidify what a force the band are. The crushing bass led drone is smothering and its dirty dank tone leaves no question as to the band’s M.O. They aren’t here for fun, they are here to crush your very soul with a sonic chokehold that will literally drain the spirit right out of you.
With Swallowed, track three, the band take things up a notch and deliver something so deliciously dark that the devil himself would question just how things got this demonic without him having noticed. The dreamy vocal only serves as a distraction, to give a false sense of security, before unleashing a barrage of sombrely deep bass, which will shake the foundations of your very core. To say I mark this as my favourite track of the album is an understatement, it has some really dark ‘60s vibes and, to me, catches on to a Led Zeppelin’s Dazed And Confused comparison. I think, in part, it’s the similarity of the guitar sound, but by Christ, is it cool.
Elsewhere, Magna Mater gives off similar vibes to tracks one and two, and track five, Mun Kvlta provides an opportunity for a moment’s respite before Hekate reprises the intensity. This time there’s a more visceral feel to things, and of the whole album, this is the biggest curveball. It actually gives me a moment to strangely veer off, as I can’t shake thoughts of CLT DRP, which is crazy considering this is so far removed from their sound, and so I surmise it is possibly the vocal delivery atop those antagonistic guitars that have swayed my interest.
By the time the title track, Thunderhunter, blows into close proceedings, things have gotten far darker. Slow and apocalyptic, this finale stamps home just how dark and visceral the band are. Uncomfortable to listen to, by the time it drops off, I am well and truly weary.
Coming away from it, I feel quite lethargic, but at the same time lighter. It’s as if some kind of spiritual exorcism has taken place and cleansed my very being. Either way, my recommendation is to hunt this down and take yourself on a journey with Karla Kvlt, you won’t regret it.
Label: Exile On Mainstream Records
Band Links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Lee Beamish
