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| Killer artwork by Karmazid, as always. |
Draghkar, one of the
children of LA based guitarist Brandon Corsair finally released its
first full length after a bunch of demos, splits and extended plays
and it’s a different but meaner beast now. The band now solidified
with a strong lineup composed of members of bands such as Drawn and
Quartered (freaking underrated American legends) or Vastum (one of
today’s best death metal bands), delivers one hell of a record.
The Mediterranean
climate of California surely shaped that album. Corsair’s love for the Greek olde goldies could
also have been an important factor too, I guess. Maybe! Draghkar
basically sounds like death metal that’s been compressed with the
warlike nature of Hellenic black metal but also with a truckload of other disparate elements such as epic heavy metal and Swedish and Finnish old school death metal.
Sophisticated while armed with an unhinged and aggressive approach, the tightly knit debut album is rife with excellent solos from Kelly Kuciemba. His leads add another dimension to the band (see the intro of “Beyond Despair, The Dawn of Rebirth”) and reminds me of both the “non melodic” melodic death metal that some few bands did so well (Deathevocation? Intestine Baalism? The racist cocks of Arghoslent?) and a style of raw, heartfelt epic metal that could be something cooked by King Fowley of Deceased in Mortuary Drape’s bloody kitchen. Slow without being doom/death metal, their speed is perfect for me as I like my death metal varied but mostly mid-paced and crushing. There’s a few longer tracks crammed with riffs such as the title track and it’s an expansion of the same ideas found on the shorter tracks but pushed to its epic paroxysm.
Sophisticated while armed with an unhinged and aggressive approach, the tightly knit debut album is rife with excellent solos from Kelly Kuciemba. His leads add another dimension to the band (see the intro of “Beyond Despair, The Dawn of Rebirth”) and reminds me of both the “non melodic” melodic death metal that some few bands did so well (Deathevocation? Intestine Baalism? The racist cocks of Arghoslent?) and a style of raw, heartfelt epic metal that could be something cooked by King Fowley of Deceased in Mortuary Drape’s bloody kitchen. Slow without being doom/death metal, their speed is perfect for me as I like my death metal varied but mostly mid-paced and crushing. There’s a few longer tracks crammed with riffs such as the title track and it’s an expansion of the same ideas found on the shorter tracks but pushed to its epic paroxysm.
The vocals of Daniel
Butler (Vastum, Acephalix) are on point, high powerful rasps that
could work for a lot of extreme metal styles are something I dig.
He’s replacing Brandon who’s focusing on songwriting and guitar
and that’s a respectable decision even if I liked his more
cavernous vocals on releases such as “The Endless Howling Abyss”.
Butler’s vocals are relatively intelligible and I dig the
production on them, there’s a slight martial edge reminding (Hail
of Bullets, God Dethroned?) and that’s a good fit to the
belligerent songwriting. The bass is also another clear highlight of
that record, it’s loud, significant in the mix and even has clear
moments to shine “An Erosion of the Eternal Soul”, it’s fun to
hear such a lively bass in a non technical death metal band, it’s
not something I encounter often.
The mix of styles
here demonstrates how well those guys know their metal as it’s a
seamless progression of extremely good things and could appeal to a
diverse crowd into riffs and solows. There’s an academic feel to
the whole thing and I really like that. Akin to a wizard studying
their craft for years to unleash the most potent spells, Draghkar is
a knowledgeable student of all sorts of metal schools who were able
to craft something special.
It’s a short album but there’s some a few ambient moments that could have been somewhat extended such as the chanting at the start of “Seeking Oblivion” or the conclusion of the title track. I felt that there’s a mournful angle that could be more thoroughly explored without losing the expert musicianship and ear for melody those guys showcase on that thunderous debut.
It’s a short album but there’s some a few ambient moments that could have been somewhat extended such as the chanting at the start of “Seeking Oblivion” or the conclusion of the title track. I felt that there’s a mournful angle that could be more thoroughly explored without losing the expert musicianship and ear for melody those guys showcase on that thunderous debut.
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