Khadaver – New World Disorder (2012)

Our favorite two-man unit from Slovakia has returned with their first full-length release titled “New World Disorder”. With a richer and far more complicated sound since their demo EP “Beta Version”, the band delivers eleven tracks filled with crazy vocals, programmed ‘drums’ and a few interesting riffs here and there. This album does show the considerable amount of maturity that the band has achieved over the years, but it also lacks the cohesiveness of their demo EP.

After the instrumental “Europa In Flames” intro, the band immediately sets the mood with some heavy and catchy riffs surrounded by fake drums and a very monotonous approach to things. The fake drums our one of our main pet peeves with short-staffed bands, and Khadaver falls in this category with very dull and linear patterns presented through the release. The track itself presents some cool guitar sections and even nicer electronic parts, but it is very repetitive.

“21st Century Antichrist” keeps the same mood going with a very traditional (and eerily similar to the first track) song structure. The keyboards and electronic sections add an extra layer of mystery and trippy-ness to the track but ultimately the song sounds again very linear and predictable. The first real change comes with “Vacuity”, a track that engages the listener at first, and then with some very weird electronic sections the band shifts into a Lacrimosa mood around the two minute mark and things get weird again. Featuring interesting experimentation with the clean singing and atmospheric elements, this song is a very nice effort from the band.

The guitar work gets a bit more effective and active on the track “Battle Zone”, making this track a bit more interesting and somewhat cohesive in comparison to the previous ones. Our favorite track in this release is the quite entertaining “deGenerated”, a track that has a nearly dance-music vibe to it, but it really brings up the spirits of the release and keeps the listener engaged and wanting for more. The only annoying thing is the Dani Filth like shrieks that just sound very badly placed whenever they are used, and they seem to just be thrown into the music with not a lot of reason behind them.

After a round of few dull songs, “A.D Assault” returns some life back into “New World Disorder’, but it’s very weird and momentum killing pace might discourage some listeners. The closer “Technofuneral” delivers a good paced wrap-up track, but it still does not compensate for the lack of diversity and pace through the release. While we think Khadaver has some potential, the band needs to solidify their sound by getting their ideas straight and focusing on exploiting their strong points while getting a real drumming or just switching to head-on beats instead. For a free download, this album is worth your time, at least for a few songs, so go ahead and download this release.

Release: August 14th, 2012

Genre: Industrial Black Metal

Country: Slovakia