KALOPSIA - Angelplague
Horror Pain Gore Death Productions
Ah New Jersey, my birthplace and where I spent my early childhood. What an experience that was and so many memories. The one place where all standing water as well as streams had a petroleum product sheen. Ed Fricky's Seafood Restaurant was closed because it had rats in the lobster tank. Not only would you see tires floating in the Hackensack river but the occasional dead body of course that was when the river wasn't on fire. A place where English was a second language for adults and you could still meet someone named Adolph.
But that was many years ago. I was born in Hoboken and grew up in Fairview. This band here hails from New Brunswick, New Jersey. When I was growing up if you came from New Brunswick you were thought to be rich. Well I can say that KALOPSIA are rich in the tradition of death metal. The band has a convoluted history which is surprising considering the pummeling sound and fury they pull off on this release. KALOPSIA originally started out in 2000, put out their debut full length Exquisite Beauty of the Defiled in 2003 then stopped. Almost a decade later the band puts out Amongst the Ruins. Then five years later we have this platter. Whatever the case something wicked is going down in New Brutalsville.
The first thing I noticed on Angelplague is that the band is not totally part of that northeast death metal style (aka: NYDM). In fact they remind me of VADER (with a technical edge of DECAPITATED) be it the cavernous vocals of singer/guitarist Matt Medeiros, who use to be in another great Jersey DM band FUNEBRARUM. Add to that the complexity of the compositions, it's not all about bludgeoning. The band allows in some melody in-between the bloodletting. There's some CANNIBAL CORPSE influence here and it's prevalent on the latter cuts. I believe this to be just a perfect death metal release. The soloing is more inviting than throat cutting. There's a good balance of face rippers vs cuts that stretch out to allow some somber moments. Yeah great record.
http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KalopsiaMetal
https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/angelplague
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