Kalmah – Palo
In all honesty, my first playthrough of Kalmah‘s new album, Palo, did not grab my attention much. Luckily I decided to listen to it some more, and it grew on me.
Starting off the album, you will hear the familiar sound that only Kalmah can produce. The first track on the album, Blood Ran Cold, is in my opinion one of the best on the album. Trust me, it will get you tapping your foot.
Moving on to the second track, Evil Kin. This is where I started banging my head. Man, the start of this song nearly made me lose my earphones. I really enjoyed the song and it’s lyrics, but I did feel a little weird by the amount of cheesiness that the “Hip Hip Hooray!” lines brought to the song. Other than that, the little bit of darkness in it felt just right.
I truly feel that the further I went into the album the better it got. One of the tracks, Take Me Away, made me replay it again a few times. I am not in particular crazy about the lyrics, but this song has a melody and some tasty guitar solo, unlike any other song on this entire album. It’s well worth the listen.
Waiting in the Wings must be my absolute favourite track on this album. I think this song stands out from the rest when it comes to the vocal work and lyrics. Not only that, but it sounds brilliant. The guitars are working together in such a way that it gave me goosebumps. I think this might take the place of my new overall favourite Kalmah song.
Another highlight for me is the song Erase and Diverge. It’s got an interesting Thrashy feel to me. There is a certain type of aggression and despair in the vocals and the fast guitaring that makes me want even more.
The album winds down and closes off with a slower track, The Stalker. Such a soothing melody for such frightful lyrics.
In Conclusion –
It’s been quite a few years since the release of Kalmah‘s previous album, Seventh Swamphony. I think that the wait creates a certain kind of expectation as to what you want to hear. This album is definitely not what I expected, but in all honesty, it’s pretty darn good. It’s definitely one that I would recommend to my fellow Metalheads.
Album review for Kalmah's album Palo, released on 6th of April 2018
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Nordic Metal Review
Summary
The long wait since Kalmah’s previous album release was made worthwhile by this solid and hard-hitting album.
User Review
( votes)Label:
Spinefarm Records
Tracklist:
- Blood Ran Cold
- The Evil Kin
- The World of Rage
- Into the Black Marsh
- Take Me Away
- Paystreak
- Waiting in the Wings
- Through the Shallow Waters
- Erase and Diverge
- The Stalker
Line-Up:
