KADAVAR

Abra Kadavar

Nuclear Blast
rating icon 8 / 10

Track listing:

01. Come Back Life
02. Doomsday Machine
03. Eye Of The Storm
04. Black Snake
05. Dust
06. Fire
07. Liquid Dream
08. Rhythm For Endless Minds
09. Abra Kadabra


There's something vaguely WOLFMOTHER-ish about KADAVAR's meticulously coiffed beards and retro-authentic wardrobe - not to mention the almost clinical efficiency of their debut album's proto-metal revival - which, at times, felt rather calculating in its taut, clean construction and delivery.

But as the German power trio unveils their second long player, "Abra Kadavar", with nary a major record deal, clothing endorsement, or diet soda synch license in sight, its much improved songs also show a lot of heart, body and soul - all qualities that may help put all previously held suspicions to rest.

Simply put, but a few listens are required for one to asses that KADAVAR's sophomore "jump" is indeed light years removed from the aforementioned Australians' more contrived (and/or heinously co-opted) careerist agenda, if for no other reason than, well, this just ain't Top Forty material.

Rather, "Abra Kadavar" remains faithful to the doomier, dirgier, Kaftan-wearing wardrobe of BLACK SABBATH's first album, which, along with a few other seminal heavy metal pioneers of the day, essentially documented the British blues scene's welcome "corruption" by the nascent '70s' post-Aquarius nightmare and newly available amplification technology (shout out to Jim Marshall!).

And, unlike Sweden's GRAVEYARD, for example, KADAVAR have resisted digging themselves back too far into those Brit-blue templates, pre-1970; embarking, instead, on a daring high-wire walk that both defines the creative philosophy and fuels slowly self-revealing thrills behind typical tracks like "Come Back Life", "Black Snake", and "Dust".

The Berliners also know when to go "back to the future", near and far: on "Doomsday Machine", the timbre of Wolf Lindemann's voice recalls WITCHFINDER GENERAL's Zeeb Parkes (but mercifully stays in tune!); on the remarkably catchy album highlight "Fire", it's Bobby Liebling and his PENTAGRAM crew; while, on other occasions, it's the cryptically named Mammut who provides the secret weapon, via Geezer-esque bass lines that propel "Eye of the Storm", the title cut, and other songs forward.

Also worth noting is that the oft-pronounced psychedelics heard on KADAVAR's debut seem to have been reigned back somewhat; though they wink briefly in the background organ and swirling space guitar of "Liquid Dream", then come back with a vengeance during the hypnotizing wah-wah pedal improv bathing "Rhythm for Endless Minds" (reminiscent of '90s feedback astronauts NOVADRIVER, among others).

By the time "Abra Kadavar" winds down, suspicion has given way to trust, and cynicism to hope - such is the qualitative improvement of KADAVAR's songwriting and convincing fine-tuning of their musical vision, which clearly makes a point of eschewing the pseudo-psych rock fashions, in spite of their questionably picture-perfect image.

We could be proved wrong about this in the long run, but based on the musical evidence at hand, if this is what calculating retro-metal sounds like, then considers us co-opted.

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).