Creating industrial metal is hard sell without a doubt. There are too many things that can go wrong at any point during the creating process - but to fuse it with blackened death metal? It’s a positive idea, but does it meet its own standards? For starters, the background of Khonsu is highly connected with Norway’s Keep of Kalessin. The main composer, Grønbech, co-wrote a good majority Keep of Kalessin’s EP
Reclaim, which featured the infamous Mayhem singer Attila Csihar, along with Frost on drums. If that doesn’t spark your interest – did you know that Grønbech is Obsidian Claw’s brother? To top that off Keep of Kalessin’s current vocalist Thebon, is also a core member of Khonsu. Essentially, Khonsu is just Keep of Kalessin’s side project band.
Regardless of Khonsu’s connections, the band also takes a Slipknot approach with the visualization aspect with masks expect Khonsu pulls it off with organization and the overall spooky aspect that Slipknot ultimately failed at miserably. But don’t let that be a determinate of writing this band off just yet. All I’m saying is that they pull of the mask dilemma, therefore adding a tad bit more to the music.
What’s surprising about
Anomalia is that it has more to offer than speculation of any other industrial project. Hell, it doesn’t even come close to industrial metal; it actually borderlines with industrial metal, but leans on an avant-garde/progressive touch. Even though first impressions seem like the album is teasing at aggrotech compiled on extreme metal in the very beginning of “In Otherness”. However, it quickly transitions in an onslaught of some of the strongest vocals from Thebon’s career, along with Obsidian Claw’s approach on melodic black metal.
(I forgot to mention Obsidian Claw’s participation on the album, mainly because he’s actually not a full-time member or some *** like that. The websites say he’s a session musician.) Long story short, “In Otherness” is an excellent album opener that captivates and keeps the listener guessing what’s coming next on this 9 minute beast of a song. Following “In Otherness”, “The Host” takes on the torch of interest and expands the fire of captivating its audience. Instead of following the typical identity of extreme metal, the entourage that Khonsu is compromised of takes a distorted doom metal stance, and a melodic ballad-esque moment that has another outstanding vocal performance from Thebon. However, “The Host” doesn’t completely stand its ground as an “upbeat” song as its predecessor, instead it focuses on a distraught atmosphere with an underlying tone of anger.
Basically, that’s the mold of the album in a nutshell. “Dark Days Coming” and “The Malady” have eerie atmospheres. “Inhuman States” is an epic 9 minute black metal masterpiece that starts off with a raw black metal riffs, then blasts straight into an in-your-face Keep of Kalessin styled blackened death metal, and half-way through goes back to the form of industrial/avan-garde/progressive metal that was presented on the first three songs. Despite any implication I’ve been telling you thus far, forget it. The song that truly defines the album is the closing epic “Va Shia (Into the Spectral Sphere)”. It implements melodic acoustic guitars, keyboards, progressive elements, clean transitions from heavy to clean instrumentation, every range Thebon is capable of. Basically, just an awesome song, and I wouldn’t even blame you if it’s the only song you check out.
In Conclusion,
Anomalia is an awesome, yet interesting blend of industrial, avant-garde, and blackened death metal. However, knowing the nature of this type of band, we may never see another release by these guys.
Anomalia shall not disappoint, and will be worth your time if you decide to check out this album.
