Kemakil - The Shard
I really enjoyed Kemakil's self-titled debut album when it came out last year. Having shared the stage with them a frankly ridiculous number of times over the past few years (and just over the past weekend at Thrashersaurus III festival, for that matter) I've obviously witnessed their live potential firsthand, and I'm always thinking to myself "You know what, as amazing as they are, I know that there's some untapped potential here". That may seem somewhat condescending, especially since frontman Rob Durrant was doing the rounds with Kemakil before I was even born, but it was a genuine observation that lead to a small modicum of frustration when their album dropped last year; it rocked, but it hinted at something so much greater that kind of got left by the side of the road along the way. So imagine my delightful surprise when the lads gave me a copy of their newest EP, The Shard, and it fulfilled all my expectations while throwing in some surprises of it's own.
The Shard may still be a thrash metal EP at it's core, but it's got some fucking great twists to it - it goes for a somewhat chaotic, almost atmospheric approach with some slightly progressive elements thrown in for good measure, and to fuck your head up even further, there's some slight death metal influences and rock 'n' roll stuff in there as well. Yes, rock 'n' roll. The latter is most prevelant on the title track during the solo section, but it's still there; it shouldn't fucking work, it has no reason to work, but it does. All of this on top of an already solid teutonic thrash sound equates to a very enjoyable listen overall, and the EP's pacing is another strong point in it's favour. It's only five tracks long, the first three clocking between three to four and a half minutes and the last two being instrumentals (one 'full length' and the other an outro) which barely clocks in at sixteen minutes and leaves you practically begging for more, which is the best way to approach anything; if it's leaving you clamouring for more music by the time it finishes, then you're onto a fucking winner. Everything is so tightly executed, so meticulously prepared and fleshed out that it's difficult to acknowledge that this is the same band that we heard from just last year - riproaring metal from start to finish, that actually takes time to make you think about it's composition? That's a rare find.
There aren't tremendous depths for me to plunge into here due to the EP's brevity, but I think I've made my point clear. The Shard is leaps and bounds ahead of Kemakil's already splendid album, and if this is any indication of what their next album will sound like then we may well be getting the greatest UK thrash album to ever be released without having 'Onslaught' slapped on the front of it. Kemakil always delivered quality metal, but this goes much further and sets a fucking excellent example to the rest of the thrash metal scene all over the world; step up your game and do something unique!
The Shard may still be a thrash metal EP at it's core, but it's got some fucking great twists to it - it goes for a somewhat chaotic, almost atmospheric approach with some slightly progressive elements thrown in for good measure, and to fuck your head up even further, there's some slight death metal influences and rock 'n' roll stuff in there as well. Yes, rock 'n' roll. The latter is most prevelant on the title track during the solo section, but it's still there; it shouldn't fucking work, it has no reason to work, but it does. All of this on top of an already solid teutonic thrash sound equates to a very enjoyable listen overall, and the EP's pacing is another strong point in it's favour. It's only five tracks long, the first three clocking between three to four and a half minutes and the last two being instrumentals (one 'full length' and the other an outro) which barely clocks in at sixteen minutes and leaves you practically begging for more, which is the best way to approach anything; if it's leaving you clamouring for more music by the time it finishes, then you're onto a fucking winner. Everything is so tightly executed, so meticulously prepared and fleshed out that it's difficult to acknowledge that this is the same band that we heard from just last year - riproaring metal from start to finish, that actually takes time to make you think about it's composition? That's a rare find.
There aren't tremendous depths for me to plunge into here due to the EP's brevity, but I think I've made my point clear. The Shard is leaps and bounds ahead of Kemakil's already splendid album, and if this is any indication of what their next album will sound like then we may well be getting the greatest UK thrash album to ever be released without having 'Onslaught' slapped on the front of it. Kemakil always delivered quality metal, but this goes much further and sets a fucking excellent example to the rest of the thrash metal scene all over the world; step up your game and do something unique!
1. The Shard
2. Time's Up!
3. Dead Wagon
4. Great Minds Destroy (instrumental)
5. Prejudice
2. Time's Up!
3. Dead Wagon
4. Great Minds Destroy (instrumental)
5. Prejudice
