Album Review: Raketkanon – RKTKN#3 (Alcopop! Records)

Deep at its heart—in the small medieval town of Ghent, to be precise—Belgium harbours a dark secret. You might not know it, but the unassumingly quaint town is home to one of the loudest, darkest and most progressive rock bands in the world. That’s right, Belgium has a secret sonic weapon of mass destruction, and its name is Raketkanon.

Raketkanon: it means Rocketcannon in Flemish. But Raketkanon don’t sing in Flemish. Raketkanon speak their own language; one of throttled squeals and shouts, meat-grinder waves of rolling riffs, synth-layered soundscapes, dystopic electronica-laced beats, and hypnotic grooves. Raketkanon speak the language of music like you’ve never heard anyone speak it before, and for their latest record, they’ve relearned a whole new dialect.

RKTKN#3 will be released on 5th April 2019 via Alcopop! Records.

It’s an unusual album, one that really doesn’t sit in one particular genre at all. Nine tracks of odd noises, sounds, effects and more. Raketkanon certainly are an imaginative bunch and across the 33 minutes of RKTKN#3 we get to experience that imagination in full.

Happily for all its oddities, the groove is what appeals so it’s easy to tap your foot along to the likes of Ricky and its bouncy beat. The more ‘melodic’ Melody with its vibrating bass or the intense bursts of noise that come from Hannibal.

It’s impossible to get a handle on Raketkanon as every single track is significantly different then the last. That we can go from the mellow first half of Lou to an absolute wall of noise in the second half is staggering.

The question is though…is it actually any good? Well, yes it is good. It’s odd and the level of randomness might put some people off but when you’ve got such intense tracks as Ernest, it’s impossible to not think RKTKN#3 is a memorable release.

Raketkanon – RKTKN#3 Full Track Listing:

1. Ricky
2. Fons
3. Melody
4. Hannibal
5. Robin
6. Lou
7. Harry
8. Ernest
9. Mido

The album can be ordered now via Alcopop! Records here. Find out more via Raketkanon’s website, Facebook Page and Twitter. You can stream their music via all major streaming services including Spotify, Deezer, YouTube and Apple Music below.