Krallice is called a progressive black/death metal band, yet the New York group seems to take progressive black to a different and much more proper level in terms of the sound. While not totally giving way to the prog era like Opeth has in recent years, Krallice finds the anorexic line between the two quite easy to balance on in Diotima, but the initial feel for me is one of some really suspect arrangements. In short, what could have been a truly magnificent album is marred by a seeming lack of punch to the guitar sound and disheveled crafting. It’s not bad, but it could have been great.

By the time I get to “The Clearing” I’m now much more impressed with the sound I’m hearing as opposed to the instrumental intro and “Inhume”; this track more than makes up for the interesting, if rudimentary chords that are dispersed all over the board. Is it as good as the 2008 debut? No, not even close, and I’d be lying if I said anything else; simply put, that album was a damn fine moment in time, as was its follow-up, Dimensional Bleedthrough. That said, Diotima suffers from a sad production and really haphazard songwriting, literally roaming all over the place in spots. I understand the *ahem* need for the wavy, unpolished sound for this type of music, but when you’re listening to the album something is just lacking in the music. These guys are great songwriters with some real kick to their efforts, and this album is not a bad album by any means. It’s just that the occasional burst of dark energy is crying out for more.

The title track is quite good, with Mick Barr’s familiar growl leading the way over some decent music that spills out and over your palate quite evenly. This album is not without its highlights; I really enjoy the occasional flipping of chords and time changes that shatter your lulled senses. If more bands did that there wouldn’t be so much boredom in the movement, but, alas, that asks for too much intimacy with the music these days. Now, “Litany of Regrets” actually made me turn around to see if my CD was skipping when it first kicked in; this was a completely unnecessary trudging through the song that reminded me more of an old Samhain tracked called “The Birthing”, yet that song wasn’t annoying as this “bop-bop-bop-bop-bop” is, literally ruining the song for me. Maybe I missed something; maybe the incessant ‘skipping’ is supposed to lend a sense of foreboding that is lost on me, but whatever it is annoyed me to no end. I’m trying to picture this song without it and I think it would be quite good…but that damn skipping! When “Telluric Rings” kicks in I still have that accursed sound in my head, literally still pumping into my ears! After a minute or two I’m back to normal and a solid tune permeates my room that quickly shifts gears and stands like a hauntingly progressive monument that provides a pretty impressive feeling of dim and shadowy frustration. This is, for me, the best track on the album simply because its essence is not overshadowed by a formula. It has some severe bleakness attached to it, especially towards the end, which has a nice switch you might not see coming; I surely didn’t as I expected the typical which is to my discredit. I’m always glad to be happily wrong. “Dust and Light” plows through with an unrelenting and destructive design that ends the album on a definitive upswing.  

Overall Diotima could have been a fantastic album, but it’s only really good. It can be enjoyed by even the most ardent black metal fan, but with such a fan base comes some expected criticisms concerning the songwriting and production being less than par. If these little nuances are easily overlooked, then you’ll find Krallice’s recent effort a nice addition to the discography. If you’re anal retentive about such things you’ll undoubtedly find more faults than triumphs. I’m in the middle, so to speak, but I would enjoy hearing it again sometime so it gets an edge in that regard.      

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  -
2.  Inhume
3.  The Clearing
4.  Diotima
5.  Litany of Regrets
6.  Telluric Rings
7.  Dust and Light

Total playing time: 68:58

Release Date: April 26, 2011
Label: Profound Lore

Krallice - Diotima

Reviewer: Chris

July 18, 2011