Genre: Black/sludge metal
Country: Poland
Label: Godz ov War Productions
Year: 2020
Sooooo… I was staring on an empty word file for some time and I had no idea on how should I begin writing this review, as today’s album is a standout one. It is a black metal album, but it is not. It is a punk album, but… it is not! I am talking about the Polish band Trup and their 1st full length album “Ke”, released in 2020. They also have an EP from 2019 and one more, in 2020 as well. The band was created in 2017 and I must admit that I am really glad that I got to review this album. Let’s dive into it…
To begin with, Trup did the most clever thing, regarding the song titles, which are simply numbers. Their first EP contains 6 tracks with the titles being the numbers 7 to 14. The full length album contains 14 with the titles being the numbers 15 to 28 and their second EP contains 6 songs with the numbers 1 to 6 for as titles, like going a bit back, as the first started with the number 7… pretty clever and you forget having to think about song titles for good. “Ke” has a length of 34:47 and it has all the elements one can ask for from a black/sludge metal band. Blast beats, skink beats, straight forward punk parts, the guitar tuning being so low it reaches one of the lower circles of Hell, always with the black metal influence and vocals combining black metal with grind. The songs have enough changes that come out of nowhere and the album is not at all boring. Yes, at some parts one song ends and another begins and you cannot even notice as some of the songs are like one, but it is of small importance.
Production wise, when I first listened to it, I thought that I would like the bass to be a bit louder, until I saw that the band has no bass either way, but it is not something that affects the overall outcome, because the album’s sound is well crafted and the absence of bass is not tiresome. Moreover to an album of this genre, I was expecting the overall mix to be a completely mess, but to my joy, I was wrong. Really clean drums, guitar that are really easy to listen to every riff and everything is good. Trup are the living proof that a band can play sludge with a proper production, as we are in 2021 (well, 2020 when the album was released) and not in mid 90s.
I don’t have to say something more. I highly recommend it to all the fans of raw black metal, but also to the fans of grind/sludge and I believe that with “Ke”, no side will be disappointed. It could be fan to begin listening to sludge at my 40s. It won’t seem strange to me and I will give the credits to Trup if that happens. Let’s see what will happen… in the meantime, listen to this album and trust me, you will not lose your time.
5/6