If I ever decide to appear on Mastermind, I won’t be choosing Kratornas as my specialist subject. What I do know is that this entity hails from the Philippines and, having released numerous demos already, may well have invented a new sub-subgenre or even an endangered cross-pollination or something like that: Black Grind. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Black Grind!
It’s difficult to make an accurate assessment of the merits or otherwise of Kratornas based solely on these two advance tracks, which clock in at less than ten minutes between them. It sounds interesting for sure, but the very fact that these slabs are unmastered makes me question the logic of distributing them in the first place. Unless someone is looking for feedback before deciding whether to pursue the dream any further? Who knows?
Is there going to be a debut full-length from the shadowy Bruno Zamora? Called ‘The Fourth Seal’ perhaps? Anyway, this pair of tasters is promising enough and I do believe that a full-length of proper tracks from Kratornas would be worth investigating. But if a chef asked me to sample his half-cooked fillet, I’d knee him in the groin.
For now, I feel like someone is wasting my time or taking the piss. Back in the real world, Asunder, Negura Bunget and Blut Aus Nord have just released new albums. Proper albums that demand attention. Kratornas should do the same and stop fucking around. Or at least produce a more substantial demo. I know life is tough in the murky underground but reviewers need more than nine minutes of semi-finished material to get their rotting teeth into.
