Kassad – Faces Turn Away (2017)

Unleashing one of the most devastating and aurally dissonant releases of 2017, today we have Kassad and their debut full-length release “Faces Turn Away”. This one-man band from London manages to unleash very violent outbursts that are nicely framed around some more melodic and atmospheric passages, greatly exacerbating the contrast created. For over 45 minutes this release will certainly keep you engaged and demoralized.

Opening with the pummeling “Shame”, we get a brutal onslaught like the ones delivered by outfits like Anaal Nathrakh with intense riffing and superbly harsh distorted vocals. This track suddenly transforms into a more Post-Black Metal piece with dreamy passages and catchy percussions. “Pariah” continues the flow with more brutality and intense drumming, while unleashing more traditional Black Metal riffs.

The band’s ability to mix in atmospheric and melodic elements with such intense and brutal onslaughts is quite remarkable as you don’t know what to expect and when. We have tracks like “Void” that are quite mysterious and crafty, and perfectly lead into more brutal pieces like “Madness” or Post-Black Metal anthems like “Broken”, which reminds us of bands like Lustre and An Autumn for Crippled Children.

We particularly enjoy the band’s more atmospheric/ambient sound in more experimental pieces like the hypnotic “Faces Turn Away” and the closer “Pulse”. Choosing to close the album like this, the listener is spared of more brutality and adds mystery to the overall musical direction of Kassad. As a whole, “Faces Turn Away” is one hell of a brutal release that is far from being linear and keeps the listener always on edge, guessing what is coming next. If you like heavy BM with Post-Black Metal elements, this is definitely for you.

Label: Hypnotic Dirge Records

Release: July 6th, 2017

Genre: Black Metal

Country: UK