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KARLA KVLT: The Obelisk Premieres “Swallowed” Video By German Ethereal Sludge Metal/Post-Rock Trio!

Jason Hesley

KARLA KVLT marks the return of Markus E. Lipka, the driving guitar force behind 1990s German alternative/noise rock heroes Eisenvater, here joined by his son Johann Wientjes on drums and his daughter-in-law, Teresa Matilda Curtens, on bass and vocals – both also in Melting Palms. Together, the trio delivers a raw and monolithic debut album that is unique in style and approach with Thunderhunter.

 

The beats and riffs on Thunderhunter are unfathomably heavy, the vocals bell-like, fragile, and intense. KARLA KVLT’s music is dense, immersive, but also beautiful – like a plant fighting its way through a concrete slab, like the tides, following a precise and unstoppable rhythm that can be as destructive as it is capable of revealing beauty in the next moment, offering a view of something new. Based on drone, doom, sludge, noise, and post-rock, the band creates monolithic and hypnotic tracks on Thunderhunter, which was recorded in a strictly D.I.Y. manner in Hamburg. Here, the band infuses seemingly incompatible styles of sludge/doom and dream pop; Both concepts come together within KARLA KVLT in an amalgamation of brutal beauty.

 

The band reveals with the new song, “With ‘Swallowed,’ you come imminently closer to a state of complete self-dissolution. The ominous sound design of the intro immediately evokes the feeling of being trapped in the belly of a nameless beast, rendered helpless at its mercy. Vocals and bass come more to the fore here and reinforce the mysterious and trance-like atmosphere. ‘Swallowed’ is an infernal dance that celebrates utter madness.”

 

Alongside their premiere of the track, The Obelisk writes in part, “…the place they’re coming from is KARLA KVLT’s own, and that if Thunderhunter is the beginning of a new journey this apparent family band are undertaking, they set out in noteworthy and forward-thinking fashion. One looks forward to hopefully learning the places to which their sound might ultimately go, but what you need to know going into ‘Swallowed’ is don’t get distracted and keep your mind open… in my head it’s such a given that anything on Exile On Mainstream is at least going to be awesome in concept if not execution that Karla Kvlt as a new band are already a no-brainer in my head. That the band actually turn out to kill it across the record feels like a bonus.”

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