Album Review: Kielkropf – Ignorance Is Bliss (Sludgelord Records)

Kielkropf (quite similar to the English “changeling”) was founded in spring 2013 and is situated in Siegendorf near Eisenstadt/Austria. The band was formed by Fink (Rainer Fink) and Schmidi (Thomas Schmied) who decided to form a band in the style of sludge and doom metal, while incorporating influences from different styles of metal, blues, and rock.

On July 6th 2018 they will release their second album, Ignorance Is Bliss in collaboration with Sludgelord Records.

As sludge and doom as you can possibly get, Blissful Ignorance’s fuzzy guitar intro explodes into a crusty and filth-covered tune. The slow riffs backed up with a booming drum beat and the gruffest vocals are great but the slight changes it goes through is what really standout.

If you’re looking for anything more complex then deep, dirty booming metal then Ignorance is Bliss isn’t going to be for you. There are few surprises here. Instead it’s four tracks of some of the heaviest doomy sludge you’ll hear all year. There is a little bit of tracks blending into each other though as the beat is often kept really low across all of them and the vocals are consistently pissed off sounding.

Unlike a lot of sludge and doom though, Kielkropf keep things fairly short ensuring boredom never sets in.

Closing out with the best track of the album, Soon I’ll Be Gone’s little injections of pace make the difference ensuring Ignorance is Bliss goes out on a high.

Kielkropf – Ignorance is Bliss Full Track Listing:

1. Blissful Ignorance
2. Lost
3. Hunch
4. Soon I’ll Be Gone

You can order the album now via Sludgelord Records and find out more/keep up to date with news by liking Kielkropf’s Facebook Page.