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King Apathy - Wounds review




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Reviewer:
N/A

18 users:
6.83
Band: King Apathy
Album: Wounds
Release date: February 2019


01. Civilization Kills
02. The Scars Of The Land
03. Cleansing
04. Great Depression
05. Revelation Time
06. He Missed The Stars
07. Reverence
08. Wounds
09. Earthmother Rising

This band used to try to blend black metal and post-punk as Thränenkind. That didn't work out as well as it ideally should have, so now, under a new name, King Apathy makes a post-black metal album about how awful the human race is.

I first gave this album attention because it was tagged as both black metal and post-punk. I assumed that that would be a mistake or something because I found it odd to find that combination on Metal Storm. After noticing that King Apathy is actually the new name of Thränenkind, I decided to start chronologically with their first two albums. And to my surprise, there it was: post-punk. And the band did hit the post-punk mark quite well, but when it came to actually blending it with black metal, it felt very awkward. The other album, which actually gave this project its name, diminished the post-punk sound for a more conventional post-black sound. So now, on Wounds, that is continued.

There still are bits and pieces that are somewhat reminiscent of their post-punk sound, like the opening of "Cleansing", but overall this feels a lot closer to Harakiri For The Sky and Downfall Of Gaia than The Chameleons or Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. But this did make King Apathy have their own sound, separate from the aforementioned ones, a lot more melodic and shimmering, as if instead of trying to blend post- in, it completely ingested it. And speaking of genres, it's kind of time to admit that the black metal element of it is closer to neo-crust than actually black metal.

And with how emotionally pessimistic this record is, it's to its advantage that the black/crust vocals are largely quite intelligible so that they can clearly get their "look at the state we're in" message across. But just in case you didn't, they made sure to include some speech samples once in a while just to get the point across. And for how emotionally potent the whole album is and how there still is a tangible hardcore influence, there still feels like there's quite a lack of actually punchy and impactful moments. Wounds feels like it constantly stays in that mid-paced area where it sounds nice but it doesn't really feel like it's actually going anywhere. The best moments on the whole record are where it actually picks up pace or slows down, songs like "He Missed The Stars" or "Cleansing" or "Great Depression".

Wounds is a pretty important record with a pretty important message, but its lack of actual dynamism in songwriting does hinder how well it can get the point across. Yet it's still quite essential that once in a while we do look at what we've done to this earth.





Written on 10.03.2019 by Doesn't matter that much to me if you agree with me, as long as you checked the album out.


Comments

Comments: 8   Visited by: 76 users
10.03.2019 - 23:01
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Gonna give it a try i did sample it ago, samples was good in boat names
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I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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11.03.2019 - 23:48
nikarg

I swear that if I ever manage to own a boat, I'm gonna name it "sample".
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11.03.2019 - 23:50
Mercurial

This has a 6.4 user rating. I guess that means it's worth about 8.3 then.
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11.03.2019 - 23:53
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Written by Mercurial on 11.03.2019 at 23:50

This has a 6.4 user rating. I guess that means it's worth about 8.3 then.

I thought it would be like that, but i honestly found myself liking this less than i expected
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Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
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11.03.2019 - 23:56
Mercurial

Written by RaduP on 11.03.2019 at 23:53

I thought it would be like that, but i honestly found myself liking this less than i expected

I think I did hear a song from this a bit ago, and it didn't quite grab me, so I'm guessing I would feel the same.
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12.03.2019 - 19:57
Rating: 6
Starvynth
i c deaf people
Written by nikarg on 11.03.2019 at 23:48

I swear that if I ever manage to own a boat, I'm gonna name it "sample".



At first, I wanted to curse you and all of your next of kin for claiming the best name ever, but then I recalled a worthy alternative: my ship's gonna be called 'St. Annic'.
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14.03.2019 - 15:46
Rating: 5
Kuroboshi

I agree with your review, and with the message the record bears. We definitely need to look at what we are doing. That being said, the style of the album begs me to love it, but for some reason it just falls flat (musically) for me. It feels unengaging, for some reason.
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15.03.2019 - 21:07
Rating: 6
Starvynth
i c deaf people
'...but it doesn't really feel like it's actually going anywhere... ....its lack of actual dynamism in songwriting does hinder how well it can get the point across.'

The truth he has spoken, but I didn't want to hear it...

Remembered some Thränenkind videos (lit. 'Tearchild', but with an intentional spelling mistake that makes it even cringier) I liked, grabbed the CD, spun it three times - and still can't force myself to remember a single track.

Too bad, but this is very forgettable.

Thanks for the warning Radu, will pay more attention in the future.
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