Review: Knochen – Ode to Frailty

Introduction

Polish one – man black metal band (or project) is back with its second full album, “Ode to Frailty”. The man behind the project has the following to say about his latest project:

The successor to Meadow Lights which carries its eclectic spirit and pushes it further, exhibiting yet more ambitious and riveting compositions. An emotionally rich journey through soundscapes of fury, sorrow and rapture.

I liked the first album “Meadow Lights” and was looking forward to giving the new album a spin, after doing that several times, it’s time for the review.

The Album

The new album contains 6 songs with a runtime of 41 minutes and 29 seconds. Below you’ll find the track titles, duration and links to the lyrics (those will open in a new tab).

1.Rogues05:09  Show lyrics
2.Metamorph Rising07:15  Show lyrics
3.Thrall of Light06:38  Show lyrics
4.Flee the Vessel05:13  Show lyrics
5.Victory and Contempt09:09  Show lyrics
6.Soil to My Monolith08:05  Show lyrics

Musically, the album sounds great, although there are a few things I would change. But I’ll get back to that later. The tracks have well-composed structures, and even though they are on the longer side for my small attention span, I don’t get bored after several minutes, which is a positive thing.

The bass on the album is worth mentioning, as it’s well executed and shines throughout the entire album. It’s something that I find missing on numerous albums these days, but it’s clearly present on this one, and I love it. The drums are great, and the guitar riffs are outstanding.

Impressively, Vodian plays all the instruments, sings, and mixes and masters the album himself. However, this brings me to one of the downsides of the album – the mixing and mastering. The album sounds harsh when listening to it on speakers. I checked this with a Discord member, and they had the same feeling. The mid and high frequencies are causing this harsh sound, which is a shame because the rest of the album sounds great.

On that note, when I re-listened to the album on headphones, the problem with the harsh sounds was less noticeable, making the album even more enjoyable than it already was.

Track Highlight

“Flee the Vessel” is the fourth track of the album and one of the tracks that you need to listen too if you want to get a feeling for what Knochen is about. The drums are firing, and the riffs are great. The interlude at the end is also a nice change of pace. This is my favorite track of the album and a recommendation.

Conclusion

I enjoyed the album, and undoubtedly, fans of atmospheric black metal will appreciate it as well. However, if there’s one thing I would change for the next album, it’s the mixing and mastering of the recording. I highly recommend listening to the album with headphones to fully appreciate its sound quality.

BMZ Score: 7,5 / 10

YouTube player

Links

Bandcamp: Ode to Frailty | Knochen (bandcamp.com)
Metal Archive: Knochen – Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (metal-archives.com)

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