Album Review: Kravt durch Krebs - Schmerzkörper (2021) - Guest Feature by Ilya Yclept

Kravt durch Krebs – Schmerzkörper Release Date: September 11th 2021 Label: independent Format: LP Length: 31:22 Genre: Ambient , Black Metal, Noise , Avantgarde , Spoken word, Doom, Dissonant , Metal , Lo-fi

Kravt durch Krebs is a fresh one-man black metal act, hailing from Germany with it’s newest installment Schmerzkörper - the body of pain or the pain of the body, I guess.

From the first seconds of the opening track the artist distinguishes the area of his operations, establishing a strong new school of black metal feel - “Ich bin” is dedicated to personal reflections on life, as the lyrics are built around the author’s diary. I couldn’t get what exactly is being transmitted, but the raw emotion of despair that goes perfectly with its music video - beautiful landscapes and pictures of nature. The opener is produced in the closest to your classic black metal style, with fast paced rhythm section, grainy guitar sounds and constant screaming, and the whole thing is intentionally monotonous and repetitive.

Frequenzerhalter is manifesting a strong Burzum vibe while entering darker and slower areas of metal. What's interesting, in this song the lyrics only consist of two words, which are combined in a way you don’t usually hear in German, which demonstrates the readiness to utilize unorthodox creative methods - and further it becomes a recurring feature.

With kopfkriecher and #Erwartungsparasit the album takes an unexpected leap into the dark and depressive chambers, building more upon the “silent-loud” model, overridden frequencies and overall surreal atmosphere. The short track goes with a short music video, that gathers your every antihuman/antilife trope you little metalheads need for a healthy and balanced misantropic breakfast.

Some production choices may be considered questionable, but everything is excusable when the sound of drill pops in - and it fucking does! In “Your awkward life”, a tackling antifascist declaration. The song also features a music video with abstract imagery and nature, cementing the creative audiovisual attitude. 

The witchhammer themed song comes next, and that’s where Schmerzkörper really gets painful - the sound becomes borderline unlistenable and radical, which will make the most demanding black metal elitists proud. Very apocalyptical, tedious and bleak.

Kristpest picks up where the Hexenhammer left, slowly swinging, whispering, developing slowly and addressing sadder and more desolate vibes. From what I know this track is related to asexuality, and I can confirm it’s a total boner killer. And even more drill! 

Any Oranssi Pazuzu fans can indulge themselves with Nicht Mensch, another exercise in psychedelic black that helps to shake off the uneasy mood of the previous part of the album and kind of transit into the closing chapter with new weirder aesthetics.

The closing track Das letzte Aufbaumen offers the rawest and bleakest of two worlds, like if Mutilation had a telephone talk with Michael Gira. It’s a single ugly riff, spoken word lyrics and gallons of guitar distortion, that abruptly ends around the five minute mark.

Schmerzkörper is a deeply personal album, dealing with a number of personal issues and opinions, not afraid to do what it feels like to do and share the heavy feelings and not actually trying to fit in, but keeping the steady unhealthy transmission. Which is a good thing.

I strongly suggest to try Kravt durch Krebs with the music videos provided by the artist, as they release more creative potential and create an immersive experience, eerie and liberating.

Text By Ilya Yclept

https://open.spotify.com/album/4Sud0N4y5sHlS8x7ch4Ix1?si=CJT-5EUkRoGwo-0fi0dNDg

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9QYTEUCsKjgwNgAnUS3bcg