Kalmah - The Black Waltz review
| Band: | Kalmah |
| Album: | The Black Waltz |
| Style: | Melodic death metal, Extreme power metal |
| Release date: | February 2006 |
01. Defeat
02. Bitter Metallic Side
03. Time Takes Us All
04. To The Gallows
05. Svieri Doroga
06. The Black Waltz
07. With Terminal Intensity
08. Man Of The King
09. The Groan Of Wind
10. Mindrust
11. One From The Stands
12. This Mortal Coil [Carcass cover] [Japanese bonus]
This are interesting times to take a look at the Extreme Metal in Finland, a lot of releases are showing beloved bands evolving and adapting to the times. Kalmah is one of them, once tagged as a copycat of Children Of Bodom (yeah, other one), they have changed so much through the time that comparing them to the after mentioned act is quite ridiculous.
This is Kalmah's fourth release, strangely entitled "The Black Waltz" and is also the release that distances the most from the rest of their discography. For starters, the graphic treatment of the cover art is much different from what we're used to receive from the Finnish combo, this time the artwork simply sucks balls, I don't know what they were trying to do here, but they did it pretty bad.
Despite the terrible presentation, the album is quite good! A lot of changes in the band, being the most noticeable the vocals, instead of keeping the typical blackened shriek, they went for a Death Metal harsh growl, which suits perfectly to the Thrash/Death Metal vibe of the album. At least they didn't added clean vocals like every single band nowadays.
The approach in this album is much more riff-laden than other albums, with a lot of references to eighties Thrash Metal scene, with awesome guitar solos (something that is always welcome) and pounding grooveness.
The keyboards are less atmospheric this time, they act as instrument more, accompanying the guitar and even doing solos! The cooperation of guitar-keyboard is a nice arrangement in the band I must admit.
Killer songs! Yeah the album has some tracks that will blow you away young metalhead, "Time Takes Us All" is my personal favorite, although down-beat moments like the title track "The Black Waltz" deserve to be mentioned. "Man Of The King" and "One From The Stands" did fine a work leaving my neck all distended.
This might not be qualified as the album of the year and maybe some of you will hate the new vocals, but you have to give the band some credit for daring to change and be different, and that's gotta worth more than a million blackened shrieks.
Rating:
8.5
8.5
|
Rating: 8.5 |
Well, from the first dark, crunchy guitar riff, it's obvious that that this isn't a typical Kalmah album. One of the most standout (and very probably the most controversial) changes lies in the vocal style, which have changed from phlegm-drenched black metal shrieks to low-register "cookie monster" death growls. I'm not a fan of the new vocals (take the terribly under-melodic vocal intro to "Time Takes Us All", for example), but I wasn't a huge fan of the old ones either, so this isn't a deal-breaking issue for me. Eventually I got used to the old ones, but they were very grating for quite a while. The quality and creativity haven't really changed; they've simply switched ends of the spectrum, so this issue really comes down to personal preference. However, a lot more than the vocals changed here. Read more ›› |
Comments
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Comments: 37
Visited by: 222 users
| iaberis Advice Troll Posts: 1698  |
Indeed, they've changed their sound... Now they sound like Power Death Metal... Since I'm not fan of Death Metal, I don't like this change... They sounded better before, when they were a copy of Children Of Bodom... Weird music... and weird cover art!!! It reminds me of the Pirates of the Caribean!
---- Bitch! Please
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| zarakkazak Posts: 13 |
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| Stigmatized .......... Posts: 3820  |
Love it. Every song is quite good, but the title track is godly.
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| iMPERiAL_iCE Weeping Heart Posts: 1127  |
I never ever thought they were a copy of Children Of Bodom, the vocals were different, the riffs were more thrashy, they didnt have a "show-off" style (like Alexi) and they were much much better. and this album I believe is a masterpiece, although missing the mind-splitting solos in all the songs but still one of the best albums, and I LOVE the new vocals.
---- The older I get.........The faster I was  Smurfilator -- back when Smurf Metal existed :'(
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| bluemobiusx Account deleted |
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| Sc4p3g04t Account deleted |
Sc4p3g04t
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Despite the changes in sound and presentation i personally like the album title and art for The Black Waltz. It suits the band quite well in my opinion and as bluemobius said it also goes great with the layout of the album and the mood/lyrics of the songs. Go Kalmah! 
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| Danny Thomas Posts: 552  |
i didn't like thsi as much as the others : / and i never really thought of them as a bodom copycat. the music was always darker to me.
---- Our children are dead. Burnt in the ruins that were left by war.
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| Dangerboner Lactation Cnslt Posts: 7262  |
From what I've heard, this is my favorite Kalmah album. I'm really not into their older stuff, but I really like this album. I'd classify their new approach just as Melodic Death Metal....maybe even Symphonic Melodic Death Metal. Whoever said that The Black Waltz sounds similar to old Amorphis is completely correct. It sounds like a mix between the first two Amorphis albums, but this one is much faster. Overall, this is their most aggressive album and I hope they continue using low vocals. From what I've noticed, only the really talented bands actually succeed at taking risks and progressing from their original sound. Kalmah seems to have done this here.
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| Sunioj Posts: 3894  |
Ok, I just figured out what I dont like about this album but just want to acknowledge at the same time, this album is also great. The older Kalmah had a much more cold/romantic melodicness with their guitarwork and keys. Plus, I found the guitarwork to be too happy or upbeat relative to their older stuff. When I think of Kalmah, I think of sad, melodic, and cold atmosphere and such...
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| Marcus Doit Like Bernie Posts: 642  |
This album is awesome, and IMO i prefer the new artwork to that of their old artwork.
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| cruel pain carpathian flame Posts: 29 |
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| Danny Thomas Posts: 552 |
Written by Sunioj on 25.02.2007 at 17:22 you make a very good point! i think that may be why this one doesn't do it for me.
---- Our children are dead. Burnt in the ruins that were left by war.
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| cruel pain carpathian flame Posts: 29 |
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| iaberis Advice Troll Posts: 1698 |
Written by cruel pain on 18.04.2007 at 17:11 In the beginning they were a copy of CoB. CoB invented this genre, so ay comparison with them was logical and in my opinion their sound was very similar to them, but now as I said, their sound is much different...
---- Bitch! Please
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| Sunioj Posts: 3894 |
I dont agree, if you want to be politically correct you can say that Cob invented the genre, but the sound of Cob and Kalmah even on the first album sound differrent to me. They sound similar in the respects of the neoclassical riffs, but Cob also threw in alot of riffs that were sort of hard rock oriented and that made Cob more distinct...but I wouldnt call them a carbon copy though.
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| Stigmatized .......... Posts: 3820 |
Written by iaberis on 18.04.2007 at 20:20 Even in the beginning, their sound was miles away from Children Of Bodom. Just because they play the same genre doesn't make them identical.
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| iaberis Advice Troll Posts: 1698 |
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| Bsquared Posts: 33 |
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| Sunioj Posts: 3894 |
Written by [user id=1909] on 21.07.2007 at 16:42 Yeah dude,...I know there are songs that standout on the album and its pretty solid to me. But if I look at their past works, all I can do is remember how they used to sound. Well, here comes their new album for what next year? We'll just need to wait and see what how they decide to use the vocals.
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| BurbotsRevenge Foetal Butchery Posts: 1602  |
nice album, nice review, but the cover art? their previous 3 albums had awesome cover art, but this? its horrible IMO, well, at least the music is awesome 
---- Dark death metal from Sydney: https://www.facebook.com/GolgothanRemains
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| Arcesse Eum Posts: 268  |
I look at it this way: Kalmah's first album was their Catchiest, but this one is their heaviest/most bombastic/tightest.
---- As above, so below.
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| Kasper Posts: 372  |
This album is really growing on me. I think it's more attractive than the other albums, maybe it's the vocals? But it's definitely their best IMO. It has a more - in your face - attitude than the others.
---- "An open mind is like a fortress with it's gates unbarred and unguarded"
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| ms68 Posts: 260  |
Kalmah never were a copy of children of BEDROOM neither they are power-metal nor melodeth-metal they are SWAMP-METAL
---- The more you eat, the more you shit No matter what you eat, it all turns to shit
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2570  |
Written by ms68 on 23.12.2008 at 22:09 Yeah, that's the definition the band gives to the music, but after all they fall under the extreme power metal category.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Kasper Posts: 372 |
Anyone else noticed how similar the intro in With Terminal Intensity is almost the same as in Heroes To Us. Was acutally the first thing I noticed when listening to With Terminal Intensity. ;-p
---- "An open mind is like a fortress with it's gates unbarred and unguarded"
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