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Kommandant - The Draconian Archetype review



Reviewer:
7.7

1 user:
7
Band: Kommandant
Album: The Draconian Archetype
Release date: April 2012


01. We Are The Angels Of Death
02. Victory Through Intolerance
03. Downfall
04. Hate Is Strength
05. Obsidian Gravitational
06. Fore-Aft Synthesis
07. Call Of The Void
08. The Transition
09. Atavistic Species
10. Procession Of Black

Kommandant is somewhat of a supergroup blackened death metal outfit with former members of Nachtmystium, Cianide, Krieg, and vocalist Nick Hernandez of recently formed Stone Magnum. With all that out of the way, let's get to more important matters.

Not the music - at least not yet. Because there's something about this band that separates them from just a group of guys that get together and jam for the hell of it. There's a much bigger message here and it begins all the way back with the band's alternative fashion sense: leather, gas masks, bullet-proof vests, and combat boots. So Bestial Mockery aren't the only militant-themed extreme metal band. But Kommandant focus all of their spite on the one virus that continues to plague the earth: man.

A sort of artistic reflection of self-deprecating fascist deconstruction, The Draconian Archetype injects you with its poison and wears you down slowly during a methodical 52-minute procedure that all but destroys whatever morsel of faith in humanity you had left. This is the Agent Smith to your Morpheus, and every lasting minute bleeds out every possible ounce of hope nestled deeply into the background of your mind.

Of course, on first glance you're simply looking at a Panzerchrist/ Akercocke/ Deströyer 666 hybrid, which in itself is definitely not a bad thing but this is a rare case where the band's aesthetic seems to play a rather important role in the overall structure, as if the foundation lies within the Nationalist irony captured perfectly by the ever-spiteful Hernandez. The music is... well, secondary: the endless assault of drums blasting and semi-adventurous riffs buzzing along interspersed with varying degrees of technicality.

Kommandant play an all-out attack style and don't give you much time to rest once they warm up the guns and start firing into your ears. If you can withstand such an assault, The Draconian Archetype may very well be a sleeper album for your personal best-to-worst chart of 2012 releases. It has a decent replay value and the level of hostility will keep you coming back to vent whenever you get bored of playing God with your house plants like the sadistic manipulative bastard you are.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 6
Production: 9





Written on 30.03.2012 by I'm total pro; that's what I'm here for.


Comments

Comments: 11   Visited by: 121 users
30.03.2012 - 18:11
Narterath

This is a very enjoyable review, kudos. I've heard a few samples from this album and it seems quite good, and more or less as you describe it. I'll have to get it at some point, to listen to it as a whole.
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30.03.2012 - 18:41
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Narterath on 30.03.2012 at 18:11
This is a very enjoyable review, kudos. I've heard a few samples from this album and it seems quite good, and more or less as you describe it. I'll have to get it at some point, to listen to it as a whole.

Thanks! Hopefully you enjoy the rest of it. To be honest there won't be anything that'll surprise you if you heard samples already, but they elaborate on the simple things and it makes for a nice little album at the end of it all.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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30.03.2012 - 21:41
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
SOunds fun, will check when I get home.
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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31.03.2012 - 00:29
Unhealer
Eclecticist
First thing I thought when I saw the homepage was: "WTF, Troy is reviewing a industrial metal album?!"
Can this band be included in the hipster black/death metal category? Sounds interesting anyway...
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31.03.2012 - 03:15
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Unhealer on 31.03.2012 at 00:29
Can this band be included in the hipster black/death metal category?

Hipster? Definitely not. Unless you think Panzerchrist members are hipsters.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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31.03.2012 - 06:33
Branzig

It's pretty killer. I just listened to the whole album.

It's like "hi-fi war metal"
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In Grind We Crust
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31.03.2012 - 12:55
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Troy Killjoy on 31.03.2012 at 03:15

Written by Unhealer on 31.03.2012 at 00:29
Can this band be included in the hipster black/death metal category?

Hipster? Definitely not. Unless you think Panzerchrist members are hipsters.


What does Panzerchrist have to do with Kommandant?
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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31.03.2012 - 23:15
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 31.03.2012 at 12:55
What does Panzerchrist have to do with Kommandant?

Similar approach to blackened death.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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31.03.2012 - 23:17
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Troy Killjoy on 31.03.2012 at 23:15

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 31.03.2012 at 12:55
What does Panzerchrist have to do with Kommandant?

Similar approach to blackened death.


Kommandant is way moreblack than Panzerchirst imo. Panzerchrist is primarily death metal whereas Kommandant is primarily black metal
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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02.04.2012 - 00:08
DystopiaNoir

It should be noted that Nick Hernandez hasn't been in the band since July 2011 and Marcus Kolar performed all of the vocals on The Draconian Archetype.
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02.04.2012 - 02:08
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by DystopiaNoir on 02.04.2012 at 00:08
It should be noted that Nick Hernandez hasn't been in the band since July 2011 and Marcus Kolar performed all of the vocals on The Draconian Archetype.

Bah, that's my bad! Thanks for the info though.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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