Calvana "IɅ" CD Digipack

Digipak, The Sequence in the Album is not linear, and it have an Ancient Etruscian Code in the Tracklist.

4 panel digipack + 4 pages booklet Limited to 300 worldwide

Not much is known about this band named Calvana. They are hailing from the Tuscany/Italy, and despite living in one of the most beautiful places on earth these dudes (?) came up with a devastating and soul-crushing slab of black metal. Strangely titled “IɅ“, the full length has been released by Schattenkult Produktionen, who are experts in discovering and putting out obscure and dark music.
This album is driven by excellent and adventurous lead guitars and monstrous vocals, with some particularly punishing drums adding an intense, frenzied edge to the proceedings, resulting in a bleak and ferocious offering. Whenever things are slowed down a bit and you start to take a deep breathe Calvana ratch up the aggression even further, with meaty rhythms and discordant leads building a primal sound, with domineering vocals and steady percussion only serving to make the music sound all the more visceral, giving this record a very oppressive feeling. The piercing main harmonies are getting into the listener’s mind and soul, always shimmering through the meaty instrumentation.
Calvana unleash one torrent of cryogenic fury after another, with the pummelling drums and the hefty tremolo runs showing no mercy. Some might argue that this can become a bit much, especially given that we have over 55 minutes of fierce music here. However, there are enough small twists and subtle variations to the patterns and the defining main ingredients to keep things interesting. Some rhythm and tempo changes are used for lending “IɅ“ a good portion of variety. The lead guitar work is outstanding, and the powerful and quite growly vocals ramp up the intensity level even more, adding a little bit of a death metal touch to the album. Some marvelous chimes giving an emotional edge to the bridges while the steadily motoring, sinister body is powered by the thunderous bass and the hulking stick-work of the drummer.
The production is monstrous and top notch, very punchy and straight-in-your-face. That being said nothing has been buried beneath a wall of sound, so each detail is clearly audible. Overall this album is a very malevolent and sinister piece of hefty music, going for the throat and taking no prisoners. Calvana are leaving nothing but devastation on the battlefield, and based on their first offering this band could become pretty huge within the scene. In my humble opinion one of the big highlights of 2020 so far. Great stuff.

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