‘Cosmocrator’ is one of those albums where calling it Blackened Death Metal is just plain insufficient. It’s definitely present, but Khnvm has more to them than just playing what is essentially Death Metal with a “more moody” feel on top of it.
Much of this album is fast and intense, yet I found myself looking for the parts where it would slow down. Drums are blazing on full speed ahead while the guitars scowl in all directions, then all of a sudden it slows down to a big chugging riff that gives the album a whole new feeling. Those parts hit you because the album isn’t like that 100% of the time.
There’s also some odd guitar melodies that pop in here and there that I found myself drawn to. Some even have a bit of an eastern feel to them, and they sound pretty cool integrated with all the pinch harmonics and chugs. It gives ‘Cosmocrator’ some character instead of sounding like a bunch of riffs you’ve heard from every other modern day Death Metal band.
And honestly, there is a lot going on here. You have blast beats, blackened passages, slower doom parts, atmospheric breaks and some pretty technical playing. That in itself could be a mess on paper, but they certainly make it work on this album.
