25 Jun 2021

EP review: Kruor Noctis - Craven Whispers (2019)

Kruor Noctis – Craven Whispers

New Zealand

Skaventhrone



Harrowing, bleak and utterly raw black metal is the name of the game for these Kiwis. Featuring former members of respected New Zealand bands like Exordium Mors and Barshasketh, these guys already have a wealth of experience tucked under their belts.

This little release from 2019 called “Craven Whispers” is a monstrous 2-track EP composed of some truly savage black metal entwined with passages of lengthy ambience. The ambient parts are quite dark and are able to induce a trance-like state before the chaos and cathartic darkness totally obliterates the senses. The vocals are profoundly harsh and well-done, which goes hand in hand with the raw production. I’ve been interested in the New Zealand scene for a while now, so it’s always interesting to hear bands like Kruor Noctis and what they have to offer, and with this release, they certainly offer us something truly morose and dark. Kruor Noctis’ music radiates obscurity and cult black metal in every conceivable way, and seem to take a bit after Vassafor, but add their own twisted ingredients, which allows them to stand out a bit from their peers. I like how the title track takes about three minutes to build up tension then floors you with a malicious assault of venomous vocals backed by a wall of guitar distortion and morbid melodies. As mentioned before, the songs have pretty lengthy ambient passages, which are nicely mixed with the metallic elements without it actually being “ambient/black metal.” They’re more like bridges or moments of introspection if you will. This is the type of music you’d want to keep away from someone suffering from chronic depression, because the fate of such a person subjected to this kind of audio terror would only end in what I can imagine as their brains scattered all over the fucking place. (But maybe that’s a good thing!) 

This is a solid EP, but obviously the band is still in their development phase, so I imagine something truly wicked this way comes with future releases. Fuck, I would love to hear a full-length from these guys. Craven Whispers” is a 39 minute ride into the blackest depths of despair. Hail New Zealand black metal! (HT)