KINSHIP

Here we have the second album from Danish Progressive Death Metal outfit Iotunn, and there is much to take in as musically and lyrically there is a lot going on. 'Kinship' tells the story of a prehistoric tribesman, journeying through life's conditions with themes of unity/disunity, light/dark, body/mind, nature/culture, good/evil, creation/destruction, and human/inhuman. It is difficult to know quite where to start, but opener "Kinship Elegaic", is the longest track on the album and probably contains much of what one might to know about this. First off, singer Jón Aldará is an absolute monster, able to provide death growls or soaring vocals, whatever the music requires. At the back there is Bjørn Wind Andersen who is obviously an octopus, able to keep things going in multiple time signatures while always hitting hard, and bassist Eskil Rask plays between drums and guitar, sometimes providing melodies of his own or locking in tight to provide backup. Then we have the twin guitars of Jesper Gräs and Jens Nicolai Gräs who are happy to riff in slower times, or shred, whatever is required.

Here we have a band who are approaching the music head on from a metal viewpoint, looking to the likes of ICS Vortex for inspiration, yet more death than black, then moving in a different direction which is progressive but far removed from the likes of Threshold or Dream Theater. I found while playing this I kept turning up the volume as this is music which demands to be played loud, even if Aldará is performing in a theatrical fashion which makes one think of Savatage, but heavier and with no keyboards. It is a lengthy album, with the two longest tracks bookending the others and a total playing time of 68 minutes, but it feels much shorter than that as the listener quickly becomes invested and interested in understanding what the band are doing and where the music takes them.

The current line-up came together in 2019, with 'Access All Worlds' being released only two years later, and now they are back with their second. This is a band to keep an eye on, as if they keep on this trajectory, they could well become a major name.

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