A short one…
I promised (myself) to write down my thoughts on this debut album (and sole full-length until now) after my review for the EP Turiya; and because of my appreciation, ‘back then’ as well as now (as from their new yet absolutely marvelous sonic approach), for German label Dunkelheit Produktionen.
Members on this album: Akif aka Plague (guitars & recording), Ah Puch (drums), Rivoo aka Tiyanak (vocals & bass)
Executive production: Dunkelheit Produktionen
Recording: Congregation Studio
Mix: Aynus Tazwar Zeus (Baksho Studio)
Mastering: Mario Dahmen (Liquid Aether Studio)
Availability: digital / CD (+ 8-page booklet) / vinyl (3 editions: black, green and red; + poster)
Duration: 36 :35
As from the opening sequence of opener Black Death Sacrifice, this trio shows their uncompromising and old-styled yet highly technical face; and it’s an ugly face for sure! In The Mouth Of Madness is a brutal experience, low-tuned yet still coming with a fine sound-quality (great mix!). the album consists of five quite lengthy tracks, which vary a lot in tempo. The better part is quite energetic, with dynamic rhythms and up-tempo riffs. But more than once, Bangladesh-based Kaal Akuma’s morbid Metal explodes, entering blasting realms of grinding madness. Yet as a total contradiction, a few fragments fade back into slower passages of airless Doom majesty, leaving the listener suffocating, gasping for air. These slower excerpts exhale the essence of the most vile Doom-Death-Black oriented combos from the Ancient World; that fragment that overpowers just before half of the track Feast On Mortals, or about the same with Master Of Mental, reek of Autopsy / Incantation / Goatlord alike smegma and bile. Yet still, the band somehow knows to add a characteristic tang of contemporary and modestly Lovecraftian malignancy into the whole concept of ceremonial grimness.
Mind the superb six-strings, the majestic rhythm section (low-tuned basses and rhythm guitars, and rabid drums + percussions), and the ultimately foul and brute growls (PS: alternated with some hoarse blackish outbursts). Another remarkable element: the incredibly organic interplay in between barbaric bestiality and atmospheric melody. And what about the folky-ritualistic semi-acoustic instrumental Yamantaka?...
Conclusion: highly recommended if you can appreciate the likes of Incantation, Suffocation, Dead Congregation, Grave Miasma, Autopsy, Immolation…
https://dunkelheitprod.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-mouth-of-madness
https://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/kaal-akuma