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After the rise and fall of Sepultura and before the advent of populist metal trio Nervosa there was Krisiun. Since 1990 the Kolesne brothers have been proudly flying the flag for Brazilian death metal. Often imitated, domestic and abroad, but never surpassed, their four-album jaunt up until 2001's "Ageless Venomous" was pretty much flawless. "Works Of Carnage" was a stylistic experiment that toyed with shorter, bouncier cuts and big choruses. On 2006’s “AssassiNation” things really took a turn for the worse. Those vainly hoping for a creative renaissance had their hopes squashed with “Forged In Fury”. That record was a bloated, over-long, directionless platter signaling that the brothers three had finally hit rockbottom. “Scourge Of the Enthroned” is their latest and if Dying Fetus, Morbid Angel and Monstrosity can produce decent records in their old age, so can they.

After a quarter of a century and 10 albums there’s bound to be some fatigue to the way a band writes. Krisiun hasn’t been handling anti-Christian rhetoric exclusively since “AssassiNation”. “Southern Storm” and “The Great Execution” were records that dealt with historical and mythological concepts of beasts and war almost entirely. Krisiun has been writing loose concept albums for more than a decade now and with “Scourge Of the Enthroned” the brothers continue that trend. Instead of their usual themes “Scourge Of the Enthroned” is based on Sumerian mythology. Every formula eventually proves fatal and in Krisiun’s instance that happened with “Forged In Fury”. It was probably their most critically savaged recording in the 12 years that they’ve been releasing mere variations of “AssassiNation”. “Scourge Of the Enthroned” is not the much pined after creative renaissance for the Brazilian brothers, but at least it’s marginally more inspired than the insipid and meandering song sets they’ve been releasing over the last 15 years. It is folly to expect them to write another “Black Force Domain” or “Apocalyptic Revelation” but if the riffing is anything to go by “Scourge Of the Enthroned” is a step in the right direction again. Is this the next great Krisiun record? Hardly, but does it ever try.

At least Krisiun heeded the criticism leveled at some of their more recent works and opted for more manageable song lengths. Krisiun are at their best when they stay within the four-minute range and don’t loose themselves in boundless repetition. “Scourge Of the Enthroned” sheds most, if not all, of the trio’s typical extraneous diversions. It’s refreshingly straightforward and doesn’t bother with any of the usual pointless instrumentals that have been littering their albums since “Works Of Carnage”. A good Krisiun record clocks in around the 40-minute mark and this album’s 38 minutes is far closer to “Apocalyptic Revelation” than it is to “Southern Storm”. The songwriting too seems to have improved, although not in any drastic or dramatic sense. The cuts are mercifully more to-the-point and some of the riffing leans closer to “Conquerors Of Armageddon” than it does to “Works Of Carnage” which is always a plus. Max Kolesne’s blasts these days are more concentrated around selective portions of songs instead of being their entire raison d'être. Just like everybody else age is inevitably catching up to Krisiun and they don’t play as rabid and frenetic as they once did. In a more general sense “Scourge Of the Enthroned” is one of the trio’s better offerings, but the days of “Apocalyptic Revelation” and “Ageless Venomous” are well and truly behind us now.

Krisiun has always been about precision. Alex, Moyses and Max are world-class instrumentalists cursed with a fairly regressive concept of songwriting. “Works Of Carnage” was entertaining just because it was an experiment. “AssassiNation” had more of a groove metal inclination but it worked well enough within that context. They were mere creative outliers in a repertoire of largely linear and percussive songwriting that drew equally from Morbid Angel as it did from early Sepultura and Slayer. What people seem to selectively forget is that there indeed was a Krisiun in those long forgotten, halcyon days prior to 2003. That exactly those outliers have since become the apparent norm and the accepted standard to which all new Krisiun output is measured is scary enough of a prospect all by itself. “Scourge Of the Enthroned” brings back at least a fraction of the old riffing schemes and cuts down on the repetition and groove-fixated songwriting choices that have been bogging down the Krisiun assault for over a decade. Alex Camargo is still the weakest link and his barks have been getting less guttural for a while now. Krisiun is, much like Obituary, a band that has embraced its regressive tendencies as if they were virtues. The brothers three have been growing complacent and if “Forged In Fury” conclusively proved anything it was that. Krisiun has been stagnating for quite a number of years now and "Scourge Of the Enthroned" might as well be the first sign of life in a long time. Not that it's bound to become a new classic or even mandatory within the larger Krisiun canon. It's solid and unadventurous.

So where does that place “Scourge Of the Enthroned” in the now extensive Krisiun discography? It’s better than their last couple of records but it’s still no match for their classic first four albums. The angular, linear songwriting of yore has been replaced with more melodic by-the-numbers songwriting that reeks of cold professionalism and years of experience, as much as process. Perhaps Krisiun is not quite as guilty of the latter as some of their contemporaries, but they haven't sounded inspired and inspiring for over a decade. “Scourge Of the Enthroned” might not be the grand return of a band that has been falling to the wayside for quite some time now, but it offers enough reasons to remain cautiously optimistic. We might not demand (or expect) another “Ageless Venomous” from these three brothers but “Scourge Of the Enthroned” offers at least a smidgen of hope of them still being able to concoct a reasonable facsimile thereof. At least it's better than "Forged In Fury" and that should count for something these days...

Published on Leave a comment on Nervosa – Downfall Of Mankind

Nervosa now is probably more popular than they ever been before. Nervosa are to the 2010s what Sepultura were to the 1980s and 90s. Brazil’s biggest and most popular mainstream metal export. It would be folly to expect them to do things differently on their third album. “Downfall Of Mankind”, like “Agony” before it, is straightforward, high-octane thrash metal with little in the way of nuance or even variation. Three albums in and Nervosa still shows no signs of evolving beyond the basics that “Victim Of Yourself” laid out four years prior. Those hoping for an evolutionary jump the same way their once-popular forebears experienced between “Morbid Visions” and “Schizophrenia” to finally arrive at “Arise” better look elsewhere. “Downfall Of Mankind” confirms every fear that “Agony” only alluded to. Nervosa is slowly but surely becoming a victim of its own rampant popularity and they show limited growth within the confines of their revivalist thrash sound.

‘Kill the Silence’, the lead single for this record, lays out pretty much everything you need to know about “Downfall Of Mankind”. While Fernanda Lira’s vocals are probably at their most raspingly evil, and her rumbling plucked bass guitar licks are funky as ever; Prika Amaral on the other hand has apparently reached her limits as a songwriter. “Downfall Of Mankind” is, in a trait that is either admirable or unfortunate, exactly the same record that “Agony” or “Victim Of Yourself” was. Nothing more, nothing less. Not even Luana Dametto, one of Brazil’s most promising young drummers and the force behind death metal band Apophizys, is able to elevate Amaral’s songwriting to the next level. “Downfall Of Mankind” is, for the lack of a better term, reliable and efficient. Which doesn’t mean that it offers up a great deal of variety or replayability. In fact, it doesn’t. Which is sort of the problem. Dametto clearly is the most technically proficient skinswoman Nervosa has yet been able to rope in. Yet we can’t shake the impression that Luana would be better served in a band as, say, Malevolent Creation. What is also becoming increasingly evident is that Nervosa is in dire need of a second guitarist. Amaral currently performs both the rhythm - and lead sections leaving not a whole lot of room for her playing to evolve. Even that other popular Brazilian export Krisiun managed to overcome that particular shortcoming in the studio. As of now Nervosa is clearly stuck in a creative rut. An efficient, fun one – but a rut all the same.

The ladies also seem under the mistaken impression that quantity equals quality. It does not. It never does. Outside of a completely superfluous and very unnecessary intro (aptly called ‘Intro’ to avoid all possible confusion), the regular edition of “Downfall Of Mankind” consists of 13 tracks, with the special editions adding ‘Selfish Battle’ as a bonus. Instead of picking the 9 or 10 of the best songs and releasing the remainder of the session as an EP, once again there’s an abundance of very similar sounding material present. ‘Never Forget, Never Repeat’ is probably the meanest Nervosa has sounded at this point and it allows Dametto to flex her muscles and show her stamina. “Downfall Of Mankind” possesses a greater vocal presence from Amaral and her deeper register vocals beautifully offset Lira’s serpentine rasps. ‘…And Justice For Whom?’ and ‘No Mercy’ are the closest the trio has ever come to classic Slayer territory. ‘Kill the Silence’ was chosen as lead single for a reason and it perfectly summarizes the record. More than ever before does Lira’s bass playing mirror that of Cannibal Corpse’s own Alex Webster in tone and delivery. Amaral’s leads are probably at their most scorching on this record, but none of them tend to be very memorable despite their explosive brevity and fieriness. "Downfall Of Mankind" remains criminally underdeveloped in its ideas and while intense in a very straightforward and superficial manner, it doesn't possess an inch of the innate musicality and muscle of Metallica's youthful "Kill Em All".  Expecting a band to show growth eight years after forming isn’t too much to ask, is it?

The Hugo Silva artwork is emblemic of Nervosa as a band. At this point in time you’d reasonably expect them to finally sport that long pined after Ed Repka, Dan Seagrave, or Eliran Kantor canvas. There’s certainly nothing to complain about on the production end of things. Lira's bass tone sounds nearly identical to that of Webster on Cannibal Corpse's "The Bleeding". The quandary lies in the fact that “Downfall Of Mankind” simultaneously meets expectations as well as falling short of them for the exact same reasons. Nervosa is a painfully, frustratingly limited band as far as their songwriting is concerned. Even with Dametto behind the kit the average tempo does not change. There are no sudden bursts of speed, neither are there any great diversions into more compositionally dense or more structured material. No. Nervosa plows forward in a pretty straightforward manner with simply structured songs that never build on any of the ideas they have. Those hoping to hear them write their own ‘Welcome Home (Sanitarium)’, ‘At Dawn They Sleep’, or ‘Dead Embryonic Cells’ will be left sorely disappointed indeed. Nervosa in 2018 is identical to that of 2010. It almost makes you question whether these ladies are truly worth all the accolades they have been getting these past eight years.

That “Downfall Of Mankind” is everything you’d expect it to be is admirable in a way. Nervosa has proven to be very reliable in what they do, but their assault is starting to wear thin. Nervosa has yet to show any kind of compositional growth. “Downfall Of Mankind” sounds just like “Agony” two years before and that sounded just like “Victim Of Yourself”, itself but a mere extention of their “2012” demo (later re-released as “Time Of Death” upon signing to Napalm Records). How we’d love Nervosa to up the ante and go that extra mile to add a layer of sophistication to their compositions. There’s no contesting that Amaral, Lira and Dametto can play, the problem is that their songwriting tends to be one-dimensional and doesn’t offer up a great deal of variation. As with past records most songs tend to blur together with only few offering some respite, usually songs chosen as singles. “Downfall Of Mankind” is no different in that regard. It’s more of the same and it lives entirely up to expectations if that’s what you expect and nothing more. Those hoping to get something more out of the record than a serviceable whipping of crunchily produced, energetic revivalist thrash metal will be left with their hunger. “Schizophrenia” or “Arise” this most certainly is not. And that’s a pity because these ladies certainly have the chops to write something far more engrossing. This is not that album, and that’s perfectly alright. In two years from now, maybe? We'll see.