Kalopsia - Amongst the Ruins

KALOPSIA - Amongst the Ruins (GODEATER Records - CD 2012)

First thing, which caught my attention on this CD was the absolutely killer artwork and design of this digipack. Wow, just WOW! What a nice artwork from Pär Olofsson!!!!!!! Of course I already know some of his works from other bands, they were all good, but this one for “Amongst the Ruins” is especially amazing. It looks just superb on this three panel digipack, when you fold it out and see all these nice details and killer ideas for ghastly, creepy picture. I can only imagine how nice it would also look on the vinyl, but it’s enough to have a look at the digipack. Great work, Pär, truly!

I honestly never heard of Kalopsia before I received “Amongst the Ruins”. I can see that there are some experienced musicians involved in this beast, who play or played also in such bands like Funebrarum, Deteriorot, Dehumanized... So, this is US death metal band and they surely sound like one also hehe! When I listen to “Amongst the Ruins” I just find similarities to such Malevolent Creation, Kataklysm, Suffocation, Broken Hope, Deicide. You can call it modern, technical, brutal death metal or whatever you want… I don’t think it’s really so important. The thing is that this is a very nice album and I did enjoy it a lot. Maybe not all riffs or ideas are totally my flask of vodka, sometimes Kalopsia may use some rhythms or riffs, which are sometimes even close to this deathcore stuff… or simply modern death metal… Anyway, as a whole, this album really is a crushing release and even those parts, which I may not like entirely, don’t spoil it and this is just a great listen.

It’s just because Kalopsia made everything possible to make a killer, brutal death metal album. They have really good, flawless production and songs, which are filled with some awesome riffs, drumming, vocals, arrangements, etc. Quite a big part of this album is fast and violent, but there is also room for some more groovy fragments and even some melodic pieces, which spice this album in excellent way. Take “Green Eyed Monster” as an example for such song. Mind also such killer, aggressive as fuck tracks like “Salt Sown Earth” – real killer, reminding me Aborted meets recent Deicide(s) a little! – or “Pillars of Ash” and “Scatter the Remains”... Good blast, crushing death metal. Nice! I like also “Marred by Tragedy”, which is really a heavy fucker… Take a listen also to these perfectly played and composed guitar solos. Yes, very well played stuff!

So, as you can see, Kalopsia waste no time and really deliver some quality death metal. It may not be the death metal style, which I listen to the most often, but surely it is something worthy and destructive. Play it loud and don’t hesitate to bang your skull like crazy motherfucker!

Standout tracks: “Green eyed Monster”, “Salt Sown Earth”, “Scatter the Remains”

Final rate: 70/100