30th January 2022

Review: “Black Canvas” by Kill All The Gentlemen

After the success of their 2018 debut album “The Loss and the Rapture” returning to the tried, trusted and noteworthy producer Chris Fielding (Boss Keloid, Urne, Conan) of Foel Studio to mix and master sophomore effort “Black Canvas” wasn’t something which required much thought from Kill All The Gentlemen as they sought to build on the foundations they had laid in Blackened Death Metal four years ago. Macabre artist Jose Gabriel Alegria Sabogal (Abyssal, Vitriol, Nightbringer) was given the task of bringing the bands nightmarish visions to life for the cover art and Adam Martin (Vocals, Guitar), Ben Andrew (Bass, Backing Vocals), Mikey Precious (Guitar, Backing Vocals) and Thomas Arne Rørstad (Drums) have plenty of those.

The appetiser “Change Is the Only Constant” is merely an amuse bouche that cleanses the mind and the palette with some vibrant dark melodies before the onslaught of violence that is “Claw Marks“, a vicious Death Metal cut with powerhouse staccato riffs galore, a mid section breakdown passage to ignite the fires of any mosh pit, blood and thunder percussion and a runaway solo to boot. As modern Death Metal goes it can stand beside any other band as a colossus of violent power that brings storms of black crashing upon the shores and all delivered at breakneck speed without a care for the necks being snapped by anyone listening. Enhancing the atmospheric angle “Eyes For Medusa” then brings Blackened lead guitars to the spine crushing kit work which is front loaded with blast beats while maintaining that high energy incendiary nature that doesn’t even break when Grace Gillan adds the feminine touch with some glorious cleans. The combination of Martin, Andrew and Precious as an attacking trio gives some serious punch to the throat splitting vocals, making the group elements stand out as the beast rises to strike. Rørstad is the kind of restless and relentless drummer that most bands would kill for, right up there with the likes of Hannes Grossmann, Tomas Haake or Ragnar Sverrisson in creating a monstrous groove of rampaging power for the others to put down their work upon. He is the stormy sea to their lifeboats and eroding cliff faces. The respite comes with the introduction to “The Ground Beneath The Weeds“, another Blackened cut that sees the band show off some Groove Metal passages as they tear limb from limb with blood spitting and downright venomous vocals formed of lyrics which are both cleverly constructed and cutting, to the point where you want to go back and read the lyric sheet to make sure you heard what you thought you did.

While there are some metaphors in play, “Giving Gets You Nothing” doesn’t need a concept to explain itself, born of pure hatred for the World being driven by a kill or be killed humanity, the socially aware nature of it being a stark reality told through bloodshot eyes. As an album, this one is packed to the rafters with riffs with the band seemingly constantly challenging themselves to outdo each other with high tempo, lightening energy and procession playing of the finest order and how Martin is going to be able to catch his breath for the vocals during the live shows playing some of this stuff is a bewildering notion given the way the album plays out. Fortunately Kill All The Gentlemen have put their own spin on “It’s A Sin” so it’s barely recognisable when compared to its original form with only the lead harmonics carried across and meaning that it is about as far from the god awful cheesy cringe fest that it could have been as you can get. In the context of the album it works really well because this version doesn’t stand apart from the flow of the dynamic that has been created here and no, there are absolutely no synths. “Death Black” is also deserving of a mention as in the finale the melodic and melancholic have been embraced with Scandinavian influence to glorious effect, leaving you staring into the abyss of the black depths until the crushing final minutes when the dust is kicked up once final time. The time of celebration is upon us, the Kings of United Kingdom Blackened Death Metal have arrived for their coronation [8.5/10]

Track listing