The thinking behind releasing two full-lengths within one month of each other is questionable. One of them will ultimately be favored and the other left to die. This isn’t necessarily the case with Krallice. Sure, plenty of bedroom projects like Voidcraeft and Jute Gyte pump out releases more often than they probably should. There is no true danger in being a productive independent artist although some definitely dilute their artistry for the sake of work flow. Loüm featuring Dave Edwardson of Neurosis was already a nuclear bomb of avant-sludge black metal and took about a month to fully absorb. By the time I’d resigned to loving Loüm suddenly ‘Go Be Forgotten’ popped up in full on bandcamp, and either I’m not in their PR loop or it just kinda mic dropped.

The cover art was initially bewildering. Sure it looks like a funeral doom demo pressed on CD by Wild Rags circa 1984 and the choice seems either completely arbitrary or deliberately minimal. The music within is at once a re-appraisal of early Krallice atmospheric black metal innovation and a step forward in their incorporation of melodic expression. The masterful title track’s sweeping movements have the shimmering gloss of blackgaze with enough still-charging melodic black metal rhythm to avoid the saccharine rote-ness either style is known for.  The more technical, avant-metal punch of the album avoids the chug-and-howl of Loüm and this should please folks who’ve felt alienated by Krallice’s adventures since ‘Diotima’.

Krallice aren’t peerless in the extreme metal field, yet they do stand on a virtually empty playing field. Their approach is only really comparable to Thantifaxath who arguably do a more tasteful job with a ‘less is more’ approach. The ebb and flow of ‘To Be Forgotten’ has more in common with 00’s math-core like Drowningman or Psyopus than any sort of classic black metal and that will either irk or intrigue you. So, fans seeing the avant-garde black metal label and expecting Ved Buens Ende or Dodheimsgard might be better off with the latest Fleurety (which is fantastic) instead. For established Krallice fans, which I am admittedly not fully bought in, this could very well be the best record they’ve released to date.

Now this bed is a tomb. 3.65/5.0

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