Kvlt Of Hiob — Thy Kingly Mask
Stranding astride the genre's of experimental and raw Black Metal - even with flashes of avant-garde - Kvlt of Hiob are quick to set out their wares by employing a sample of a woman being whipped to encourage her to recite 'The Lord's Prayer' which is also the name of the opening track. Rasping guitars then quickly get proceedings underway and the, generally, shouted vocals of Human Antithesis at times seem to contest with the instrumentation. While some of the chord structures are, on the whole, capable there is a sense on tracks such as 'Witches Wine', 'Sacrament' and 'Le Moine' that there is not enough cohesion in the arrangements, in turn, sacrificing some decent flushes of musicianship where the music has had an opportunity to have been kept tight.
It may be that Kvlt have attempted to encapsulate too many styles into their debut, and while there are echoes of Clandestine Blaze, Exordium and even Anaal Nathrakh, some of the better compositions become lost and detached in an undulating current of disparate sounds. While 'Sacrament' is a relatively competent composition it's chord progressions and muted playing are sometimes threatened by the vocal shouts / growls which almost seem random in parts. However, there is hope in the form of 'Procession of the Burning Eyes', 'Abominations of the Earth' and the instrumental outré of 'The Beholder' - here the arrangements are much tighter and the execution reflects a band playing to their strengths rather than self-perceptions. A good percussive mix is used to fill out and support the tracks, driving their fury while keeping them on course. 'Theos' is also of this ilk, but as the track progresses again there seems to be a disparity between chords and percussion.
While 'Thy Kingly Mask' may mine a rich seam of raw and traditional BM the more experimental detours threaten to submerge a number of the tracks. Nevertheless, there is much remaining which is promising if Kvlt can focus their aspirations and tighten their intervals and chords without burdening potentially excellent tracks with too many overreaching arrangements. The pieces are all in place it's just a matter of Kvlt getting their game together.