It’s fair to say that Kal-El’s fifth full-length is easily their most elaborate outing yet. The Norwegian quartet’s previous efforts have presented their brand of Stoner Metal with an increasingly spacy edge that seemed to peak with 2019’s Witches Of Mars. However, Dark Majesty (Majestic Mountain Records) sees the last signs of restraint fade into the ether; its eight tracks reach sprawling eight to ten-minute lengths that culminate to an hour-long experience, far eclipsing the runtime of albums past.
Such an expansion could easily induce tedium if the songwriting and musicianship don’t live up to it, but the band is fully equipped to deliver. ‘Temple’ feels unlike any of the longer songs they’ve done before, starting the album off in tripped out fashion with its effectively building slow motion rhythm and warped effects. While ‘Kala Mishaa’ and ‘Vimana’ don’t hit the same effect when closing the album out in a similar fashion, they’re still solid numbers. The title track is another standout thanks to its meandering tendencies being kept anchored by its hefty mid-tempo stomp.
Thankfully the band’s more straightforward Hard Rock roots still get chances to shine. ‘Spiral’ and ‘Cometa’ serve as the album’s most compact numbers, breaking up the more elaborate arrangements with swinging rhythms on the former and charging riffs on the latter. ‘Hyperion’ is another notable highlight, keeping to a consistently pushing chug that never feels overdone despite running nearly nine minutes long.
Kal-El has always been a serviceable outfit but their spaced-out Stoner Metal sound reaches its greatest heights yet with Dark Majesty. There are some concerns about the album possibly being too long, perhaps a song could’ve been cut for a little extra cohesion, but the effective builds and strong riff game help the songs realize their broader ambitions. The band does an excellent job of maximizing their strongest attributes and delivering what was hinted at on previous albums. It may not have the most original style, but it’s damn good at what it does.
Buy the album here: https://kal-el.bandcamp.com/track/dark-majesty
8 / 10
CHRIS LATTA