“If you are a fan of music that challenges the status quo, this is your spin.”
Kekal comes at us with a remaster of their 2005 album Acidity, giving it a breath of fresh air in terms of production and sound.
The album is, as described by the band, a blend of progressive elements and extreme metal atmospheres, and you can indeed feel a lot of different ingredients mashed together in this product.
At times, it gives remnants of some deep-cut projects from Ron Jarzombek’s eclectic discography when it comes to odd time signatures, but also in the production approach, as it is very “extreme prog” coded.
The extreme metal influence is also diverse. You can feel melodic black metal vibes on tracks such as “Thy Neighbors Morality”, but also thrashy vibes at times. It even goes beyond the extreme metal influence, incorporating elements of more classical progressive music such as Dream Theater, notably when it comes to the clean vocals, as well as hints of Symphony X in the more “power” parts.
It is definitely undeniable that the lead work is virtuosic, but that is not surprising, as any mind that ventures into those kinds of genres requires advanced levels of technical mastery.
To push the thinking a bit further, and using Acidity as an entry point into Kekal’s musical world, it feels like this is avant-garde music with elements of metal, instead of the other way around. There are almost too many influences to call it metal, and to some, such as myself, the vast diversity and eclecticism of this album is confusing and does not leave enough room for you to breathe and take in the music as it is intended to be taken in.
In retrospect, however, is that not the whole point of avant-garde experimental music? To challenge the realms of the known, create chaos and confusion, and pierce the comfort of the usual to venture into the mystery of unexplored creativity. Kekal do just that.
If you are a fan of music that challenges the status quo, this is your spin. If you are a fan of uncompromising, raw, straightforward sound, run a mile.
