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Kälter: Ubuntu
12/11/12 || Habakuk
Huh!? Hold on. Something’s going on here. Is that … nooo. It can’t be!
Creativity!
These Canadians have actually come up with something you won’t have
heard before. At first, it might seem a little weird as nothing really
fits together. On one one hand, we have an awesome jungle warrior cover
art and the title “Ubuntu”. The jury is still out as to whether it was a
smart choice to take the same name as an operating system, by the way.
On the other hand we have the band name that translates to “colder” in
German. Hm! The thing is though, all elements for themselves are
actually great.
And that is something mirrored in the music, which also comes across as pretty eclectic in its influences. Imagine the metalized folkish leanings of for example Eluveitie (whose latest album I greatly enjoyed) mixed with atmospheric samples and percussion bits that evoke jungle and “tribal” associations, epic melodies, that even work on keyboards, Wintersun-ish guitars, death metal vocals, jazzy bits that sound like taken from an Atheist record, cleans, some parts that remind me of Fleshgod Apocalypse’s symphonic blast beat work, acoustic interludes… In short, a pretty wild ride through all kinds of stuff, but the band’s greatness lies in keeping it together under the tribal concept. Easily they could have given this a viking theme and we could just call it “technical viking death metal”, but they’re apparently better than that. Or just tired of the same old shit, like anyone in their right mind.
What is this then? Well, definitely progressive death metal and big on melody, but get that mental Gothenburg image out of your head again. I don’t think Kälter can be pinned to any school of sound at this stage. If I were to find a one-word description, I’d say: Inspired. At all times the album shows that this band is out for something special, and even if some parts might not be able to hold the high standard consistently, especially towards the end, the album as a whole is a pretty great listen. And when it culminates into the intense Tribulation, everything falls into place. That one alone is an absolute killer track that manages to keep a listener his/her toes for 11 minutes straight.
Now when you click that link you are actually just one step away from actually getting a hold of this thing, for it is – yes – free, if you want it to be. The band put it out on a “pay what you want” basis, and given the absolutely professional job at hand and 56 minutes playing time, this absolutely meets my definition of a fucken bargain. I handed out ten dollars anyway (and still felt bad), because talent should be supported and these guys deserve it for the great work on “Ubuntu”. If they continue working on their act and subdue the keyboards a little, they are a band to seriously look out for.
- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: Maple Metal Records
- Website: Kälter Bandcamp
- Band
- Marc-André Lafrenière: guitars, vocals
- Mathieu Plamondon: guitars
- Louis-Antoine Pelletier: bass
- Lucas Biron: drums
- Jean-François Racine: keyboards
- Tracklist
- 01. Intuitions
- 02. Flying seeds
- 03. ReMember
- 04. Reflexions
- 05. Adversity
- 06. Tribulation
- 07. Rhythm of Passion Part I : The Awakening
- 08. Rhythm of Passion Part II : The Gathering
