Album Review: Kneel – Ailment (Raging Planet and Planet K Records)

Kneel is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Pedro Mau, former member of Kneeldown and Wells Valley, which kicked off in 2011. Containing elements of thrash, technical death, math metal and hardcore. The new album Ailment is out on October 16th 2020. Filipe Correia (Wells Valley / Concealment) was a special guest on the project, leading all lyrical and vocal duties.

Give me liberty or give me death

With that famous cry, Kneel’s Qualm kicks off. Hitting its stride almost immediately with a dark, rumbling and very heavy effort. The sinking mire of aggression working in tandem with Kneel’s grasping hands of technicality to leave things thick and choking.

Awry keeps the focus exactly where it should be and that’s the raging cesspool of heavy groove with layers upon layers of complexity. Heightened by Interim, the wildest and most uncouth of the bunch so far, and Dys’ unapologetic doomy crashing and thrashing sound. Its damn fine stuff.

Bringing back the speed, it’s nice to get something with some proper punchy and thrashy meat to it with Raptorial. Before Kneel let their technical side emerge with some serialised gusto on the sharp Abacination. It’s an absolute killer slash of metal.

Following that, Watchful is probably Kneel at their most simplistic (which is saying something) but still as gloriously heavy. Whereas Bellicose is another frantic and carnage-inducing listen, and Impenitent’s guitars grind the joints painfully and so very effectively.

This is a class release that flies by in a haze of beautiful heavyweight noise. So strong is the release, that out of nowhere it comes to an end with a thumping finish in Acuity. A wild flurry of drums, the vocals spat out at an intense pace and the guitars, as scarring as always.

Kneel – Ailment Full Track Listing:

1. Qualm
2. Awry
3. Interim
4. Dys
5. Raptorial
6. Abacination
7. Watchful
8. Bellicose
9. Impenitent
10. Acuity

Links

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