Karg - Traktat (2020)

Oozing melancholy, today we have Karg’s latest opus “Traktat”. As a one-man project from J.J of Harakiri for the Sky fame, this band focuses more on a more dreamy Post-Black Metal style, perfect for any fan of the genre. While this project has evolved from Atmospheric Black Metal territories to this more compact sound, this release shows the evolution of a musician refining his signature elements and further complimenting them with subtle improvements. Delivering the perfect mixture of bleak desolation and harsh aggressiveness, this release is certainly an intense ride.

Opening with the dreamy layered guitars of “Irgendjemand wartet immer”, this release sets a very moody atmosphere that is quite traditional of Karg. With J.J handling all instruments, you can hear the very effective interplay of the drums and guitars. The vocals are the typical harsh screams that add anxiety inducing helplessness to the songs, perfect examples of this are “Jahr Ohne Sommer”, and the doomier “Stolperkenotaphe” and its excellent string arrangements.

One of the lushest and most emotive tracks in this release has to be the disarming “Alaska” and its waves of melancholy delivered in the shape of dramatic lead guitars and harrowing vocals. Dreamy elements are perfectly intertwined with fast-paced drums and dramatic tempo changes. Unleashing some more experimental instrumental passages, “Abgrunddialektik” will grab your attention thanks to its Proggy and Post-Rock-ish elements.

As the release comes to a close with a good mix of furiously paced tracks like “Grabcholerik”, and the mellow “Tod, Wo Bleibt Dein Frieden?”, we can’t believe over 76 minutes of music have passed by. The band’s atmosphere sucks the listener in and keeps him hypnotized for the duration of “Traktat”. Overall, while many bands are jumping in the Post-BM bandwagon, bands like Karg show that you can deliver unique music and have your own signature style and still unleash melancholy into the world.

Label: Art of Propaganda

Release: February 7th, 2020

Genre: Post-Black Metal

Country: Austria