Album Review: Kannustaa by Kannustaa (Self Released)

International (Serbian and American) melodic black metallers, Kannustaa, are all set to release their debut album on the 6th of March this year.

Kannustaa are a new name to me, and maybe to a lot of you. I know very little of them other than they consist of 3 members. They are A. Đ. (Debasement, Ravaged Spleen Outburst) on vocals and guitars, J. on drums and Jamie Bibbs (Jesusegg) on the bass. I know they come from Serbia and the USA. Aside from that, and the fact they play melodic black metal, I went into this album, completely blind.

I came out the other end completely enlightened though. This album isn’t good, it’s brilliant. I had never heard of Kannustaa before. I won’t be forgetting them any time soon.

Kannustaa is wonderfully guitar driven metal with a sharp blackened edge. The album starts off without a moments hesitation jumping instantly in with To Give and Forget. The guitars blaze out before the tone drops into a darker affair. Dark, black metal growls and shrieks sit nicely just behind the instruments creating a wall of sound that fills your ears. It’s quite a journey, switching up the tempo and ferocity by transitioning between different melodies and riffs regularly. Mother starts off at pace but follows the same formula hitting us with blazing lead melody all backed by a strong bass and drum foundation while the vocals punch holes through the cloud of music. The verse riff is brilliant – the guitars drop tone and suddenly you feel you need to get in the pit.

Shadows in the Sky keeps the guitars prominent with an interesting start that build up in layers. Drums join and then, with a scream, the vocals are added. I love the slower groove to this one. It works well with the strong vocals giving us black metal growls and screams over the slower tempo. Again the guitar work stands out with a wicked instrumental section to close the track as different dual melodies get toyed with. Don’t Leave Me doesn’t mess about. Within seconds we are thrust into a punchy song with quick drums, vicious vocals and a dark and dirty riff. It’s a bit more frenetic with pace being at the forefront and the guitars being a little more restrained. That is until the final minute when they’re let off their leashes and we get a little more of the melodic harmonising.

That brings us to the final two tracks, starting with the wonderfully named A Plea for Solitude. Probably my favourite song on the album so far, the guitars are dreamy and passionate in the intro before the feast of the instruments join in creating an absolute beast of a sound. Not so much in heaviness, more in darkness. It weighs on you. The vocals sound great as do all the instruments but what Kannustaa seem to be getting right is the power of the sum of their parts. This is brilliant. Faultless. A thought rammed home further when we move into the instrumental phase and start noticing little touches like the drum fills used. Then further on the gentle addition of wind instruments and acoustic melody just takes this song to an unexpected level of brilliance.

After that, I go into the final song, Encourage, almost reluctantly as I want to play A Plea for Solitude again. I’m glad I pressed on because Encourage is another cracking song. The pace picks back up, the vocals sound even more venomous this time round. Guitars blaze moving from steady riffing to infectious soloing while the bass and drums fill the song with important strength and structure. There’s a lot to enjoy here and the last 90 seconds or so closes out with a little head banging treat. A rumbling riff, meandering lead and steady beat closes the song, and the album, leaving you begging for more.

Wow. Kannustaa have absolutely knocked it out of the park with their self titled debut. Talk about setting the bar high! I absolutely love it. I guess, if I was being super picky, the faults come only in some of the production. There are a few moments where the drums sound muddy, the bass seems lost or the guitar tone seems overly raw but that is being really pedantic. What you have here is a top quality slab of passionate and powerful metal. A band with obvious talent on their instruments, and vocals, as individuals coming together to create a phenomenal sound that leaves you panting for more.

Preorder yourself a copy of this excellent album from Bandcamp, here.

Kannustaa Links

Facebook – Bandcamp