Doomy, gloomy and powerful are the 1st words that come to mind after listening to this new CD release, Redemption Through Looseness, from Swiss Aggro-Metaller's Kruger. This 9 song CD is full of heavy grooves and loud guitars. Think of Tool type grooving with the vocals of Clutch, delivered in an almost Stoner Rock ala Kyuss, Metal type package. Different & earthy.
Redemption Through Looseness is a very THICK sounding record if nothing else. Whiskey soaked vocals, piercing rhythmic battles along with desperate and heavy groaning make this an intriguing dirty listen. The comparison to Kyuss or Queens of The Stone age seems like an obvious thing to me. Kruger is totally heavier than both of those bands, but the Stoner element is just too strong. The dirty riffing and the deliberate heavy slow droning is what Kruger does and they do it pretty well.
I hear a lot of different influences coming out in Redemption Through Looseness". From Neurosis to Tool to Entombed, Kruger uses their influences to make a pretty powerful record. Check out the song "Holy Fire" for a nice homage to Tool. Powerful, but I couldn't understand a damn word of the vocals, but at least there was some passion in there! And, no guitar solos, either. But that's not their thing, so that's cool too. But they still seem to be missing something. It is heavy, but almost just for the sake of being heavy. Doesn't quite grab ya by the balls.
Overall, this is a pretty solid CD for those into this type of thing. Kruger is obviously trying to capture the Aggro post-hardcore market, with their dark and dirt fueled tunes. Twisty and deep and fairly original, but it doesn't rock the boat. But it doesn't sink it either.
Track Listing
1) Ammunition Matters
2) Queen Of The Meadow
3) The Graveyard Party
4) Hummers Vs. Pedestrians
5) Holy Fire
6) Army Of Lovers
7) War & Wine
8) The Cowboy Song
9) Crusaders
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