Signal Rex announces May 1st as the international release date for Kratti‘s highly anticipated debut album, “Matka Kohti Kosmista”, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
Kratti are a power-trio hailing from the infinitely fertile Finnish black metal underground. They made their public demo with the accurately titled Demo 2023. Despite their apparent newness, Kratti are undeniably old souls as far as black metal goes, and they fully assert their ancientness with the full-length debut, “Matka Kohti Kosmista”.
While so much Finnish black metal for the past couple decades has been influenced by the hands of Shatraug or a certain Warmaster, Kratti cast their gaze upon some of the scene’s culter or less-fully-realized likes, such as antagonistic paragons Impious Havoc or the short-lived Syöpä. Which is to say, “Matka Kohti Kosmista” is NOT for trendy ears, and unapologetically whips forth a nastiness that’s shot through with melancholy – hypnotically hummable riffs spiraled to the point of delirium, but built upon a stern ‘n’ stoic foundation of linear, deceptively epic songwriting. Even with the hysteric surge at which Kratti move most of the time, atmosphere is built from within, their flat-yet-full production choice working as another instrument and rendering their miasmic musings that much more pained and poignant. Plus, occasional daubs of moonlit synth further separate band and record from normcore “black metal” non-ideals.
For those nostalgic for a more Sombre age, Kratti have created a transportive spell with “Matka Kohti Kosmista”.
Feel the nostalgia with the brand-new track “Ääni Hiljaisuuteen Katoava” HERE at Signal Rex’s Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
1. Pyhä Alttari
2. Haudanvartija
3. Matka Kohti Kosmista
4. Sota Viimeinen
5. Ääni Hiljaisuuteen Katoava
6. Synkissä Muistoissa