Krisiun - The Great Execution

Krisiun
The Great Execution
Century Media Records/E.M.I. Music Australia

Few within the death metal scene can boast a career that has spanned more than fifteen years, without so much as a step out of place in terms of retaining a strong sense of consistency and energy in the musical sense like Brazilian act Krisiun. Following on from what was undoubtedly their strongest effort to date (2008’s ‘Southern Storm’); the three-piece outfit (Comprising of vocalist/bassist Alex Camargo, guitarist Moyses Kolesne and drummer Max Kolesne) have returned with their eighth full-length release ‘The Great Execution’. And not surprisingly, it’s another unrelenting death metal masterpiece that proves that Krisiun’s inner fire has far from extinguished, but more growing in strength with every passing year.
With some Brazilian flavoured acoustic guitar work leading up to the crash of the first opening riff (Provided by renown Brazilian guitarist Marcello Caminha), the opening track ‘The Will To Potency’ quickly builds into a huge metallic assault that combines some truly crushing riffs, venomous vocals and drumming that pummels the listener into complete submission. But while there’s no shortage of death metal acts that seem content to bludgeon the listener right from the outset, Krisiun prefer to hook the listener in with some truly catchy and memorable riff structures, and leave plenty of space in their overall sound to showcase the band’s remarkable abilities on their chosen instruments. Long-time co-producer/mixer Andy Classen has really given the band a sound that compliments the band’s aggressive approach to death metal (In other words, Krisiun are as brutal as you can get, and yet every member of the band can be heard clearly), while the band’s song writing is without question every bit as strong as their accomplishment on the performance side of things.
In terms of direction, ‘Blood Of Lions’ (Which features some great lead work) and the death/thrash based blast of ‘The Extremist’ are trademark Krisiun anthems where speed and extremities are the primary ingredients to create the perfect killing machine, while ‘Rise And Confront’, ‘Descending Abomination’ and ‘Shadows Of Betrayal’ (Which again features some awesome guitar work from Caminha) are more groove based efforts, but still manage to inflict plenty of damage all the same.
But where this album really shines is when the band broadens their song writing scope a little further afield than purely within the death metal realm. Tracks such as the title track ‘The Great Execution’, ‘The Sword Of Orion’ (Which features some great acoustic flamenco guitar work) and ‘Violentia Gladiatore’ all have some great progressive elements, without losing any of the firepower and aggression the band have built their reputation on.
Finishing up the album is the old-school intense/speed driven blast of ‘Extinção Em Massa’ (Which otherwise translates to ‘Mass Extinction’, and features a guest vocal appearance from Ratos De Porão front man João Gordo) and a re-recorded/revamped version of ‘Black Force Domain’ (Which was the title track from their debut full-length effort from 1995).
‘The Great Execution’ doesn’t quite eclipse the magnificence of ‘Southern Storm’, but only because perfection is near impossible to improve upon. But on its own merits, ‘The Great Execution’ is a stunning album in its own right, and if anything, proves that Krisiun are not only at their creative peak, but without a doubt one of the best extreme metal acts within the scene today.

For more information on Krisiun, check out - https://www.facebook.com/krisiun.official.

© Justin Donnelly.