Kahless Clone, The: Our Never-ending Loneliness

The debut EP, An Endless Loop, from The Kahless Clone made a strong impression with critics and fans, the band's dark, moody, atmospheric metal striking a cord as it attempted to find a balance between introspection and melancholic despair. In truth I found it to be a more remote experience than most, the impression that I was never quite invited into the world this band created difficult to shake off.

Still led by Novembers Doom man Vito Marchese, the band's second short outing, Our Never-ending Loneliness, (have two EPs ever been released with less optimistic titles?) changes tack ever so slightly, a more progressive edge added, while the gentle brutality of before has also been reigned in somewhat. The result is a deeper tone, a more patient path to ponder and yet still I can't quite shake the feel that I'm standing on the outside looking in, rather than being surrounded by the moods and atmospheres being played out. As with the debut, the overall sound feels like a slight compromise as the drums never quite feel a natural fit in these surrounds, bright, but too quickly decaying cymbal bursts a constant niggle against the excellent keyboards contributions; "I Can Almost Reach You" a prime example, and when the song reaches it's more restrained close, the ultra-dry kick drum blasts simply feel bolted on. However, when The Kahless Clone really stretch out, things are much more convincing, "This Is All Falling Apart" benefiting hugely from a more forceful keyboard line from Ben Johnson and guitar attack courtesy of Marchese.

The whole ethos of this band is to make their mark with a purely instrumental attack and while "If We Only Had More Time Together..." does a good job of conveying its wordless message, I can't help but wonder what a deep, melodic voice might have brought to this more upbeat than expected outing. As with their debut, it's hard to be too critical of Our Never-ending Loneliness, this EP's intentions met in a way that will delight those who fell for what has come before. Personally, even as the dense, intricate instrumentation plays out and thoroughly impresses, it's all a little one dimensional for my taste and lacking a true entry point.

Maybe I'm just not gloomy enough to be this music's intended audience? In fairness, plenty seem to be.

Track Listing
1. I Would Leave All of This Behind, and so Would You
2. I Can Almost Reach You
3. If Only We Had More Time Together...
4. This Is All Falling Apart
5. Is This What You Wanted?

Added: November 19th 2017
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Our Never-ending Loneliness at bandcamp
Hits: 1394
Language: english

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