Kratornas - The Corroding Age of Wounds (2009)

Coming from the Philippines we recently received this very brutal and chaotic release names “The Corroding Age of Wounds” from the one-man band Kratornas. The band furiously mixes Black Metal with Grindcore influences creating a very think cloud of chaos.

Kratornas has been around since 1995 has released a countless number of demos, Ep’s and split albums before releasing their first full-length album “Over the Fourth Part of the Earth” back in 2007. While the band’s style is nothing new or original, it will surely turn heads because of its brutality and restless drumming.

Using buzz-saw sounding guitars, this album features 50 minutes of aural brutality that is very rarely equaled by other bands. Having clear Black Metal influences in the riffing, the guitar work is obscured by the weird selection of FX/distortion used. I have to say that this release features a very thick sound that will take a while for your ears to get used to if you don’t usually listen to this style of music.

While some people might argue that this album is bad and it sounds like shit, well it’s all part of the band’s creative force. You should not expect a ‘pretty’ sounding album; you are in for a trip straight to hell. However, the only beef we have with the production is that the overlaying of the drums is very brute and sound like a beat box on overdrive.

The vocals vary from all kinds of hellish whispers, shrieks and some deeper sounding growls, making them very diverse and perfectly fitting for this band’s music. There are some parts where you can actually get hints of melody, providing a nice breathing time between the songs.

For a band playing this style of music we have to recognize that most songs are indeed very long (over 5 minutes each) and do get somewhat repetitive, but you are drawn back to brutal sections that will make your neck snap if you headbang too much.

If you like raw and brutal sounding music, you are missing out if you never heard of Kratornas. “The Corroding Age of Wounds” is a very intense second full-length release from this band that should not go un-noticed by people wanting to find extreme releases.

Release: March 1st, 2009

Country: Philippines