Review: “Judgement Day” EP from Krvsade

According to Charlotte North Carolina residents Krvsade, “Judgement Day” will serve as an appetizer to a forthcoming main course. So does this mean a second release in 2020 and the possibility of a full length album?! It sounds very much like it could be the case! The quartet – Keegan Dennis (Drums), Arthur Reid (Guitar), Jeb Laird (Bass), Andre Evans (Guitar, Vocals) – have been together since 2015, dropping their debut offering “Militum Infernum” in 2017, which features the first three songs they ever wrote as a band. Three years on they’ve adopted a writing style that sees four members of Krvsade work together to refine each melodic track, starting with Andre Evans (guitar/vocals) defining the skeleton of the song with riff ideas and the occasional chorus. The framework is sent to Keegan Dennis (drums) to flesh out a solid foundation and once that is done, it passes to Arthur Reid (guitar) and Jeb Laird (bass) for final attunement. Lyrical themes encompass anything from the end of days to religion and real-life events as the look to incorporate Death and Black Metal into the Thrash equation.

“Militum Infernum” is just under 15 minutes long and “Judgement Day” is just under 18 minutes with the band taking the opportunity to create longer tracks with greater use of dynamics and atmospherics, not to mention their fair share of face melting solos. The opening title track is a fine example of what the Krvsade are about, old school Sepultura, Death or even Morbid Angel style guitar work and recording esthetics, pulverising kit work from Dennis and demonic vocals from Evans. You can just picture Evans eyes lit up electric blue as he spits fire from his mouth and shoots lighting bolts from his palms. “Keep it in the Church” slows things down a notch in places, to build its sound while still having riff after frenetic riff of frenzied guitars. It’s not so much an anti religious set of thoughts but one which says don’t force this down people’s throats or treat people badly using religion as a cloak to hide behind. Metaphorically, the Church could refer to any crumbling institution that has had its day. It’s a powerhouse of a track, well thought out and performed. The slow creep of evil that is “The Key and The Gate” has something of Dizastra in it while including a couple of Jazzy baselines while bleed through the guitars before the song builds into its final epic flourish with an extended instrumental section that is just class [8/10]

Track Listing:
1. Judgement Day (3:22)
2. Keep it in the Church (7:46)
3. The Key and The Gate (6:41)

“Judgement Day” EP from Krvsade is out on 31st January and available for pre-order over at bandcamp