Band:	Kull
Album:	Exile
Style:	Symphonic black metal
Release date:	May 24, 2019
A review by:	Baz Anderson

01. Imperial Dawn
02. Set Nakt Heh
03. Vow Of The Exiled
04. A Summoning To War
05. Hordes Ride
06. An Ensign Consigned
07. Pax Imperialis
08. By Lucifers Crown
09. Of Stone And Tears
10. Aeolian Supremacy
11. Of Setting Suns And Rising Moon

The legacy of Bal-Sagoth lives on! Thirteen years ago the eccentric British barbarians released their final chapter The Chthonic Chronicles and then faded into obscurity as the band's future became uncertain. While naming Kull the successor to Bal-Sagoth is a logical conclusion, this new project essentially feels like the continuation of Bal-Sagoth as four of the five members of the original band's last line-up bring their signature sound to Kull.

No band melted elements of black metal and power metal together quite like Bal-Sagoth did with their symphonic six-piece back catalogue, and it is a great joy that Kull continue directly down the same path. Exile is bombastic, grandiose and marvelously overblown; it has all the fundamental components that made Bal-Sagoth so unique and frankly at times cheesy and over the top. If anything, Exile hits a little harder and holds a slightly darker tone than the later Bal-Sagoth releases.

This is partly due to the arrival of new vocalist Tarkan Alp, who brings a subtly harsher sound than the previous front man Lord Byron. Byron was utterly unique with his own style of using both spoken word and a range of deep or rasped harsh vocals. It would otherwise be unfair to directly compare the two but for the fact Tarkan spends a vast majority of Exile attempting to emulate his predecessor with results varying from well to poorly, the latter mainly on the lower end of the scale. Considering the size of the shoes needing to be filled, Tarkan shows great flexibility and predominantly does a great job.

"A Summoning To War" is as catchy as anything we've heard from these guys before, yet galloping "An Ensign Consigned" and closing "Of Setting Suns and Rising Moons" sees Exile keep a great pace throughout. The chasm of time passed between The Chthonic Chronicles and the present day makes this Kull debut all the more impressive and all the more enjoyable; the band haven't skipped a step at all. It is time for a new generation to discover this true hidden gem of extreme metal.

The full album can be streamed here.