Artist: Kasturn
Country: United Kingdom
Label: Hettend Tapes
Formats: Demo Tape
Year: 2025
After an exceptionally good sophomore record, the 2024-released ‘The Torchbearer Fades’, the trio that is Kasturn returns with a new rehearsal tape. With another round of tracks the British band continues to impress with multi-layered, melodic-yet-raw Black Metal with a definite 90’s atmosphere.
This freshly recorded tape, being immortalized on August 16th, so four days ago when I am writing this, gives us three tracks of which the last one seems yet untitled. All three of them seem largely continuing the path earlier chosen, the difference with these new tracks is mainly found in a slightly more profound melancholic mood. To such extent that, for instance in the second track, ‘Incomprehensible Hatred’, the band uses a riff that truly reminds me of classic Warning, arguably the best Doom Metal band ever. Otherwise the strong riffing and the catchy melodies still do most of the talking here. I always have a penchant for Atmospheric Black Metal that is driven only by riffs and powerful melodies, especially when the whole thing doesn’t sound all too polished. That certainly is the case here, with an unpolished rehearsal sound Kasturn sounds at their absolute best and it contributes greatly to the general sense of spontaneity and musical fortitude.
As already been the case with Kasturn’s previous output, especially with the aforementioned ‘The Torchbearer Fades’-album and the preceding ‘Rehearsal Promo 23’-tape, this new recording once again showcases the band’s impeccable sense for balancing the rawness of Black Metal’s primal energy with the beauty of a good melody. People who might be afraid that, based on the cover of this cassette, Kasturn has gone in a completely different direction, can rest assured; if there is any change at all, it is only the kind that helps the band climb even higher on the ladder of perfection.
