Kraken - Exalt

Many bands choose to default to the extreme- playing faster to fastest, or staying on the extreme lower depths in the beats-per-minute category. Yet a band that finds the groove in the middle and sticks to it, exploring every area of melody, dissonance, and structure in the center tempos, will almost always manage to find their way onto my stereo. Quebec's Kraken has perfected this groove, mastering dynamics while the clarity of their songwriting and production peaks out from behind a massive wall of sound. Following the dark, plodding, and heavy sounds of other bands from their region (think Union Of Uranus, Born Dead Icons, etc.), Kraken continues into the darkness, while managing to add a unique triangulation of the early 90's musical progression that Neurosis, Damnation AD, and Quicksand all seemed to interpret in different ways. An atmospheric hardcore masterpiece, highly recommended for download, CD available on D7i Records.