In brief yet dense examine the self-destructive qualities of the introverted perfectionist in pursuit of external valuation are parsed and pained by way of this third full-length album from Minneapolis, Minnesota-based progressive/avant-garde metal project KOSTNATĚNÍ. While there is a certain many-armed exuberance to their myriad pursuits within ‘Přílišnost‘ what potentially glues the experience together is the discomfort of self-examination felt, a sensation of deeply internalized exceptionalism being exorcized from the artist. In reflecting the thousand-mirrored realm within the mind their work finds its boldest-yet step away from the strictures of black metal attunement and now thrives within freely pursued but no less affected vision.

Kostnatění didn’t appear with a mission statement at one specific time but their early 2018 appearance(s) on Fallen Empire‘s roster were recorded/written as early as 2015, suggesting D.L. had set the project in motion roughly ten years ago. Though their intent lined up with USBM’s late 2000’s ’til mid-2010’s increasingly experimental/dissonant black metal cognition to start the artist’s rapid evolution leaned into elements of al-Mashriq folk melodicism and increasingly technical guitar work, infusions which’d made for a truly unique showing on album number two (‘Úpal‘, 2023). References to noise rock, auto-tuned Arabic maqam and such made for an entertaining review process at the time but what’d stuck with me was this chaotic enthusiasm faceted within their work. Based on my time with that album (as well as various interviews) D.L.‘s vision for the band appears to reflect a philosophy of manifestation along the lines of “touch only what you’d willingly become“, artistic absorption wherein choices of taste become study and are only then allowed into the greater collage presented. It is a very free-balling internet-age vibe compared to a lot of the current era of begrudging nostalgia which we stew within daily. While that might not appear to be such a breakthrough for the typical artistic mind in the realm of “metal” it nonetheless fosters extreme metal which is inspired by anything but extreme metal, a by definition progressive act (re: “advancement by accumulation“).

Named for excess ‘Přílišnost‘ intends a maximal push beyond the constrained black metal temperament of ‘Úpal‘ where everything from break beats (“Dokonalé křišťalové město”), sludge/doom metal grooves (“Křehký bůh“), and chaotic hardcore’s scrambling fuss (“Dále zvenčí”) help to bolster the innards of this inward-looking but outwardly bizarro record. The first two pieces on the album are relatively brief compared to past work and each manages to subvert any sense of continuity or relation, in fact there are some related and contiguously settled songs on the full listen but to start we are met with their most unique set of stance. While I’d loved the groaning collision of the two major rhythm guitar tones found on “Křehký bůh” as it groans through its first big riff and how that’d just as quickly turned to some kind of tech-grindcore fusion the Arabesque muse found on “Kostely byly mrakodrapy” both vocally and via the core guitar arrangement already feels “bigger” than its thrashing black/death metal voicing otherwise. At the very least the sequence of this album has had the sense to push its wildest points of impact up front.

The neon bell-striking glow of “Mrtvola Jupitera” and its post-black teeming guitar tones should catch your ear via its use of pronounced synth and brief hit of throat singing (?) in passage, another piece to bring something brief yet entirely new feeling to the list stacking before the listener while ‘Přílišnost‘ avoids the sensation of familiarity. This serves as a line drawn and a step into Side B where I’d felt the album begins to arc these feats into something resembling a complete thought; From my point of view “Samotář” eats from the same cornucopia Kostnatění have explored from the start while offering a sort of folk-thrashing yet resolutely introspective moment which feels most readily transparent, a post-punk flown and glowering piece which recalls the buzz of beloved late-era Witch Trail but with some blackened death horror sewn into its hardest rouse. From this point the remaining songs surely find their point of weirding fuse but moreso pack faster grinding intensity into their movement. Sometimes this works (“Znal jsem tě”) and other times it sounds like a dissonant black metal band covering early 2000’s Slipknot (“Dále zvenčí”) unto mixed results on my end.

While this is a new version of their gig, a different vision, and a hard pivot in most respects most everything I’d enjoyed about Kostnatění a couple of years ago is active within these shorter, quicker-to-fire pieces though we are clearly moving away from any tonal purpose served by obscure black metal guitar techniques. We could argue the repeatable value of the experience relies a series of shotgunned niche-beyond-niche observances yet ‘Přílišnost‘ is no less of a paradigm shift, the unleashed sensibilities of the project in full bloom as promised. As was the case with their previous LP I remain torn between admiring the artistic value of the feat, enjoying the adventurous walk through many mirrors it offers, while finding little to grasp and carry in mind. Still, there is no denying that this work is both more erratic and yet potentially more connective than prior work. Consider it an experience for outliers, by outliers and a wildly set bizarro collage for the rest. A moderately high recommendation.

---