Kazea â I. Ancestral Review
By Iceberg
Kazea hail from Sweden, home of the Björiff and the chainsaw song of the HM2. But on their debut album, I. Ancestral, the Gothenburg trio promise to blend âthe power of post-rock, the haunting melodies of neo-folk, and the crushing weight of sludge.â If the mere mention of sludge hasnât sent you screaming from the room, good, because youâre in for a treat today. I dealt with posty sludge from labelmates Besra in my n00b days, but throwing neo-folk into the mix puts an unusual spin on the situation. While both styles revel in their simplicity of content, the open soundscapes of folk could provide much-needed contrast against sludgeâs distorted chugging. Or it could devolve into a mishmash of styles that donât share any common language. Whatever the musical case, thereâs no denying the gorgeous poetry of Frederico Garcia Lorca in opener âWith A Knife:â âGreen, how I want you green. Green wind. Green branches. The ship out on the sea. The horse on the mountain.â Color me intrigued.
Kazea choose to separate and highlight, rather than amalgamate, their stylistic influences, a gamble that pays off more often than not. Dusky acoustic guitars reminiscent of Gustavo Santaolalla or A Romance With Violence-era Wayfarer lead the folk-inspired sections, evoking untamed, pagan wilderness (âWith A Knife,â âA Strange Burialâ). The sludge, which forms the backbone of Kazeaâs sound, is more Melvins than Mastodon, and a lot of American Scrap-era Huntsmen, with fuzzy guitars and stomping drum patterns (âWhispering Hand,â âWailing Bloodâ). Jonas Mattssonâs vocals may be a bit controversial here, with their Billy Corgan-esque nasal quality, but the more I listened to I. Ancestral the more Mattssonâs performance stuck with me. I hear shades of Layne Staley in his scrawling delivery, and while I wasnât always able to discern the lyrics, his dynamic croon forms the beating heart of the albumâs post-metal tunes (âTrenches,â âSeamlessly Wovenâ).
For a band handing in their debut record, Kazea slither and wind their way around 37 minutes with the hallmarks of seasoned songwriters. An air of storytelling pervades the album, with memorable spoken word fragments (âA Little Knife,â âA Strange Burialâ) and ambient soundscapes (âThe North Passage,â âSeamlessly Wovenâ) delivering post-metalâs cinematics within a sludge framework. Post-metal swells and crashes Ă la This Will Destroy You and Isis are found on âTrenchesâ and âSeamlessly Woven,â and while these are unsurprisingly the longest tracks on the record they handle their duration well, with the latter providing one of the strongest, heart-wrenching choruses Iâve heard all year long. Even âWhispering Hand,â which is something akin to pop sludge, is a radio-ready anthem full of earworms that evokes the better moments of Them Crooked Vultures.
I. Ancestral is a promising opening for Kazeaâs proposed musical series, and its flaws are few and far between. Daniel Olssonâs drums are powerful, and the groove laid down in âThe North Passageâ marches in mammoth lockstep with Rasmus Lindbolmâs bass, but the minimalist tribal kick/toms/snare pattern begins to feel a bit overused the longer one listens to the record. âPale City Skinâ and âWailing Bloodâ both start strongly but spin their riff wheels a touch too long, giving in to the tendency of both sludge and post-metal to utilize repetition for content. And while a master by Cult of Lunaâs Magnus Lindberg is roomy and darkly colorful, the vocal mix does get buried in the busier sections of the album, which is a shame because these constitute some of the best music I. Ancestral has to offer (âTrenches,â âSeamlessly Wovenâ). But the overall impression of Kazeaâs debut beats its blemishes, presenting a stark and unique voice formed from disparate influences.
ââŠwith a knife. With a little knife that just fits into the palm.â The chilling denouement of âWith A Knifeâ has stuck with me as Iâve ruminated over I. Ancestral. It neatly encapsulates the album, weaving shadowy, wooded energy into an unlikely combination of post-metal and sludge. The album is smartly edited and easy to pore over multiple times, with repeat listens revealing some standout moments: âWhispering Handâ is a shamelessly fun sludge anthem, and âSeamlessly Wovenâ is the most emotionally packed closer Iâve heard since The Drowningâs âBlood Marks My Grave.â I think Kazea have knocked it out of the park with this debut, and are on the verge of coalescing their sound into something truly remarkable. Donât sleep on these guys.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Suicide Records
Website: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: March 21st, 2025
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