Second full length for the German band Kalmen, proponents of good black doom with important psychedelic overtones. Even if at times certain statements may appear forced, Funeral Seas is an album that decisively shows its Germanic imprint, by virtue of its austere and obscure flow, recalling at the level of sonority bands whose belonging to black metal is in any case sui generis such as Secret of the Moon (before the alternative turn) or Helrunar. This means that the work is as restless as ever, rarely set to excessively fast rhythms, but rather often indulging in more than one passage in rarefied atmospheres reminiscent of post-metal. All this makes Funeral Seas an interesting album, which is not exactly easy to enjoy, as tension and darkness prevail over sporadic melodic openings, but with the typical quality of a successful album, which grows as the tracklist progresses and becomes more and more in your blood after each listen. The two central tracks, Uninfinite Black and Swansong, can be extrapolated as an emblem of the work. They are dichotomous in their own way, with the former being more black-oriented and not without a certain groove, and the latter, much more atmospheric but also threatening, being in my opinion the qualitative peak of Funeral Seas. Kalmen thus prove to be a band of certain value, to be counted among the most restless and least predictable interpreters of the extreme matter gravitating between black, doom and sludge, thanks precisely to a well-balanced psychedelic component that never reaches the lysergic peaks of a certain stoner.

2018 – Ván Records