Il portale della musica Heavy Metal

recensione

Kreyskull, a name that recall the realm of He-Man, has made it to the debut album. Now that the singer Kari A. Killgast, a couple of years ago, has left his other band Domination Black, the guys have probably had the chance to focus more on getting things done, and "Year Of The Octopus" is the result. The band’s root are deep into heavy metal in the more classic term, mixed with hard rock and doom. Basically, we come back to the seventies.

The first track "The Czar of Rock’n’Roll", seems to be the "business card" of the 4-piece, saying "look this is what we do, and how we roll". Well, after the brief intro, the song sounds just heavy and solid in its guitars as well as the rough vocals, it has its melodic, more Dio-like moments, but in general it’s straight to the point. And this makes for a pretty good opener.
Less effective is "Devil & The Preacher", of which the best part is this doom approach as it can be heard from its riffing. One of the songs the band puts more faith in seems to be "The Island of Dr. Mondog", where the singer has lots of room to show his versatility, and at the same time the whole song proceed steady, showing still the band’s influences that moves towards more recent times to including some bits of GnR (especially in the vocals).
"Selling The Sadness" is more stricly doom-oriented in it’s repetitively, not though one of the best tracks of the album. The following track is more interesting, if anything for the melody and the more rockish atmosphere, resulting in a good mixture which is also more easy-listening. Maybe I would just leave out some part of the "oh yeah" and "alright", as Rock as they might be, it’s something that I think would fit more to a live setting than a recording.
The titletrack reveals itself as a nice instrumental piece setting the stage for "Wicked Lady", more lilting in its rhythm, and actually one of the best tracks guitar-wise. And while "Back To The Island" find it hard to take off after a good start in the best doom tradition (Saint Vitus anyone?), The album ends with "Carnival Nightmerium", in which again the reference to Black Sabbath is clear in the background, overall an interesting track that gives good closure to the record with its ever-changing nature. Actually one of my favorite of this album.

"Year Of The Octopus" takes all the band’s influences from different traditions and makes them their own, adding some personality especially in the vocals. Although at times lack somehow incisiveness, the release it’s in general quite solid and constant in representing what is the current sound of Kreyskull. Three/four are the highlights of this record, which is not that bad for a debut. The production seems quite raw, to reflect the band’s style, but nowadays this can be seen either as a good or a bad thing, according to the taste. Frankly I think it gives a nice touch to the material. I’d say it would work just fine as a home listening in the cold of the winter.

Recensione di Marco Manzi

tracklist

1. The Czar Of Rock’n’Roll
2. Preacher & The Devil
3. The Island Of Dr. Mondog
4. Selling The Sadness
5. The Maze (That Satan Built)
6. Year Of The Octopus (part 1)
7. Wicked Lady
8. Back To The Island
9. Carnival Nightmerium