Alkaloid - The Malkuth Grimoire (Prog Metal)

[Hybrid_Child]

My CD was lying in the mailbox when I got home from school today. So I got 'ed and had a listen. Then I had another one and another one. I was never a fan of Obscura but this stuff is just awesome.

I agree that some solos sound a little too random, maybe the idea was just to add a sound layer of notes flying by.

The material on this album seems very strong however. Not least because of the high concentration of slow, groovey, catchy parts. Just so many good riifs/parts. Deffinitely not your typical tech death release. It's neoclassical without being cheesy and the melodies sound so weird and interresting. It sounds modern and experimental and yet very listenable. The clean raspy vocals doesn't sound like anything I've heard in death metal before.

There's so much different stuff going on. This is the kind of album that'll take a lot of listens to fully grasp.

Will probably be the best release this year. For me at least.

 

[Thorerges]

My CD was lying in the mailbox when I got home from school today. So I got 'ed and had a listen. Then I had another one and another one. I was never a fan of Obscura but this stuff is just awesome.

I agree that some solos sound a little too random, maybe the idea was just to add a sound layer of notes flying by.

The material on this album seems very strong however. Not least because of the high concentration of slow, groovey, catchy parts. Just so many good riifs/parts. Deffinitely not your typical tech death release. It's neoclassical without being cheesy and the melodies sound so weird and interresting. It sounds modern and experimental and yet very listenable. The clean raspy vocals doesn't sound like anything I've heard in death metal before.

There's so much different stuff going on. This is the kind of album that'll take a lot of listens to fully grasp.

Will probably be the best release this year. For me at least.

I don't really think these guys are death metal, sounds more like Between The Buried and Me/Obscura/Rush had a baby. Morean does some brutal death metal vocals on a few of the tracks (actually, most of them), but the cleans and brutal vocals are 50/50 so its hard to tell.

Actually, the vocals are one of my favorite aspect of this album. I like his raspiness and general inclination to being memorable. Some parts I'll never forget just because of how catchy his singing is.

So far, this is right down my alley. I hope they plan to tour a lot and visit the US, it would be a shame if they just did a few shows and called it quits.

 

[holy ghost]

My CD was lying in the mailbox when I got home from school today.

Nice to know they're shipping. I'm really looking forward to this, kind of pissed I didn't just kick in a couple extra bucks for the download.

 

[Hybrid_Child]

Just listened to the album again. This music is just plain phenomenal. Everything from the lyrics to the the production to the riffs is so good.

It's albums like this that maintains my excitement for music.

 

[SilentCartographer]

Mohammed Suicmez making music????? preposterous! unheard and utter blasphemy!

 

[Workhorse]

Just got the album. It is an absolute classic. I cannot believe just how good this record is overall, Morean (Florian Magnus Maier) is an incredible singer - the leads are mesmerizing and Hannes really plays some nice drum lines.

For me, this is the album to beat!

 

[holy ghost]

My copy arrived last night. I'm very impressed after a few tracks. Looking forward to digesting it a little more, but first impressions are really positive.

 

[beneharris]

When is this supposed to be released? I forgot to preorder it

 

[Thorerges]

When is this supposed to be released? I forgot to preorder it

March 19.

 

[Thorerges]

My copy arrived last night. I'm very impressed after a few tracks. Looking forward to digesting it a little more, but first impressions are really positive.

I pretty much enjoyed every track on this thing. Very diverse, very dynamic.

 

[Mwoit]

I don't love this CD but it's very interesting. It's all over the place and needs a lot of listens to get into it.

 

[Bodes]

My cd and shirt arrived yesterday. Really enjoying the clean singing.

Very polished album. Have not listened through fully twice yet, but will on my long drive tomorrow. So will hold off any judgements about level of good that it is. I am enjoying though.

 

[Thorerges]

I don't love this CD but it's very interesting. It's all over the place and needs a lot of listens to get into it.

It took me about 3 days of solid listening to understand what they're going for. My first conclusion was that this was extremely diverse. Songs like Orgonism and Funeral for A Continent are pretty melodic and very proggy, but songs like Alter Magnitudes and Cthulhu are straight up death metal.

 

[char5564]

man, this record is wonderful. orgonism is kind of slow and weird, at least in the middle, and i havent really figured out dyson sphere quite yet, but the rest of the lot are ....ing gold. ive given it 10 good listens in the past 3 days and im actually pleasantly surprised with how much im genuinely enjoying it. its been years since i was so excited about a release and even longer since i loved it this much when it finally came around. genre-defining material, indeed. its gonna be interesting to see where these guys go.

 

[Thorerges]

I think the same. Organism is actually one of my favorites. What did you make of Dyson Sphere? Morean is a complete genius for writing this track.

 

[beneharris]

you guys all suck, I really hate that I forgot to preorder this. I have to wait 8 more days

 

[MAJ Meadows SF]

Next week. Very interested in listening to something completely different than what I'd expect these chaps to be writing.

 

[jerm]

Love the songs they have on their Soundcloud.

Can't wait to hear the rest.


Any ideas as to what they used for recording the guitars, both the dirty and clean tones? The clean tones in Carbon Phrases are so sick

 

[Thorerges]

Love the songs they have on their Soundcloud.

Can't wait to hear the rest.


Any ideas as to what they used for recording the guitars, both the dirty and clean tones? The clean tones in Carbon Phrases are so sick

The clean tones on that song are pretty cool in fact, I think it is Morean using this guitar. He said he's pretty big on using clean tones with that model. Also, he is pretty big on using the sustainic with this model, a lot of his solos are written on it.


However, you can get pictures from the Alkaloid site, they have the gear they're using:

The album has quite a bit of clean tones, I think you'd be surprised. The songs on Soundcloud are definitely not representative of the record I would say.

I've obviously been a fanboy for this entire group. But Danny uses an Ibanez Green Dot UV a lot, Christian an Ibanez RGD, so don't be surprised if that is on the record. Also, Morean and Christian and Hannes all uses an AxeFX for recording.

Hannes wouldn't elaborate, but when I messaged him he said the band are going to upload a video of their gear.

 

[Vhyle]

A 7-string Stealth, eh?

Bonus points!