(What sort of difference does a name make? Andy Synn sets out to find out!)
Hands up… how many of you have heard of Danish existential extremists Kollapse?
Well, this is not that band.
How about Swedish Post-Metal noisemongers Kollaps\e?
Well, it turns out that the latter group, in an effort to differentiate themselves further from their fellow Nordic neighbours just across the water (who, in fairness, did have the name first), recently re-branded themselves as K L P S (still pronounced the same way) and decided that the best way to celebrate his new era was with a brand-new, self-titled album.
All of which begs the question, does a rose band by any other name still smell sound as sweet?
The answer, as it turns out… is no.
But wait! Before you run off and grab your pitchforks and torches, consider this… what if they actually sounded even better?
You see, while you can obviously take the continued heaviness of the band pretty much for granted (if anything tracks like raging opener “SUBVERSE” and the pounding “KATARSIS” prove that K L P S have packed on some significant sonic mass since Phantom Centre, to the point where the imposing auditory weight of the guitars sometimes recalls the doom-laden density of LLNN) it’s the way they’ve expanded their creative palette (especially when it comes to their use of both mood and melody), while also further focussing and refining their songwriting skills, which marks their self-titled album out as such a major step up from its predecessor.
Take massive mid-album stand-out “TRIBULATION” for example – which is centred around a core melodic hook which reappears and reoccurs in different forms throughout the song’s extensive, eight minute run-time – or the intensely claustrophobic atmosphere of the similarly outstanding “UNDERTOW”, both of which highlight the clever economy of the band’s songwriting, taking a central idea, or a primary focus, and allowing it to breathe and flow and evolve for as long (or as little) as necessary in order to let each track fully express itself.
Sure the band haven’t exactly reinvented the proverbial Post Metal wheel here – the gargantuan Post-Metal grind of “NATTSVART”, for example, wears the influence of post-Vertikal Cult of Luna loudly and proudly – but it’s clear that their re-branding has also come with a reinvigorated sense of self, one which has given them the confidence to really lean in to their most melodic and atmospheric ambitions (see the sublime slow-burn and captivating catharsis of climactic closer “AUREOLO”) in a way which makes the whole record just that little bit more memorable, yet also more structurally streamlined, than anything they’ve done before.