{"id":22879,"date":"2015-04-24T11:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toiletovhell.com\/?p=22879"},"modified":"2015-04-23T22:58:29","modified_gmt":"2015-04-24T03:58:29","slug":"review-kommandant-the-architects-of-extermination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/review-kommandant-the-architects-of-extermination\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Kommandant – The Architects of Extermination<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Those expecting a straightforward, easy-to-classify black\/death metal album, turn back now.
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Based on our\u00a0interview<\/a>\u00a0with guitarist\/founder James Bresnahan<\/strong> in February, it’s abundantly clear that Chicago’s Kommandant<\/strong> is\u00a0less than enamored with the way civilization is continuing its slow, inevitable slog toward bottoming out.\u00a0Humanity in general is not a reason to celebrate: it’s a reason to tear down & start over.\u00a0With this in mind,\u00a0the sound Kommandant\u00a0achieves on\u00a0The Architects of Extermination<\/em> is nothing less than an aural personification of their credo:\u00a0“we have met the enemy, and he is us.”<\/p>\n

The way in which they achieve this was, as a listener, extremely unexpected. Instead of a treble-heavy brickwalled production pushing\u00a0the limits of maximum decibels, there’s a pleasing “low contrast” quality to the mix that rewards repeat listens and unifies\u00a0the overall attack of each song.\u00a0Angry swarms of dissonant guitars that maddeningly slink between harmonies\u00a0serve as the opening volley fire to a\u00a0snarling, throaty cannon of a bass tone and the\u00a0well-appointed artillery of a seemingly three-armed drummer and his two drumline associates. And on top of it all, like the\u00a0malevolent dictator image he cultivates, are the\u00a0singer’s pained, droning vocals that float\u00a0through each song unconcerned with tempo, verse or chorus.<\/p>\n

\"Komm_resized_1\"<\/p>\n

The opening track,\u00a0Let Our Vengeance Rise, is\u00a0the proverbial\u00a0gathering of the troops, a pre-battle anthem\u00a0that is\u00a0both rousing and fully acknowledging of the horrors that await after it ends. The title track is a suitably menacing dirge,\u00a0blackened by caustic melodies and aching vocals. Oedipism and Acquisition of Power slow the tempo to fuck with your sense of comfort by piling on the\u00a0musical dissonance of contrasting, squelching guitar tones.<\/p>\n

Killing Word is a particularly mournful, menacingly manipulating track\u00a0of minor tones and masterful atmosphere with a bottom-feeding bass growl that reaches deep into the mustard gas trench to inspire horrors only the most violent of wars can bring.\u00a0And Nation\u00a0Shall Rise Against Nation\u00a0brings out\u00a0the big guns; the listener-pummeling blitzkrieg of blazing tempos and blastbeats, leaving the battlefield a smoke-scattered waste before launching into the follow-up assault of Rise and Fall of Empire and Onward to Extinction. It’s the final two tracks that back away from the gritted teeth and thousand-yard stares of explosive combat and instead revel in the overarching machinations required to\u00a0engineer a\u00a0widespread downfall of order into chaos.<\/p>\n

\"Komm_resized_2\"<\/p>\n

Sonically, The Architects of Extermination\u00a0<\/em>shares a slight kinship with another masked\u00a0band: Portal<\/strong>. Both are complex creative entities who shroud\u00a0their\u00a0faces and muddy their musical intentions beneath layers and layers of complex sound, although in this reviewer’s opinion, Kommandant gain the upper hand here with a clearer vision and purpose (not to mention you can actually hear what they’re playing; somewhat less so with Portal).<\/p>\n

If you’re looking for a dense, singular\u00a0musical vision that celebrates deconstruction and the aftermath of a world razed by gas mask\u00a0infantry, look no further, because this album fucking rips.<\/p>\n