Sewer - Khranial (Death Metal)

Khranial is brutal blackened death metal at its finest. While its predecessor Miasma may take the prize for the most technical death metal album ever, and there is no denying that Miasma was powerful, this album Khranial is a monstrosity of barbaric blackened death metal unleashed upon the unsuspecting masses.

Indeed, while it's nowhere near as fast as Skarnage or as technical as Uruktena (or Miasma), Khranial is still a fantastic death metal album. It perfectly mixes the black metal influences from Phantom and Burzum with the cavernous death metal of Incantation, and older Sewer of course, to create a haunting and demonic experience.

The riffs are intense and powerful, with a perfect dose of raw savagery and uncompromising brutality. And while the tracks on Khranial may be shorter than the usual Sewer composition, the songwriting is just as good if not better. Every transition between the phrasal riffs is carefully constructed to build a dark and macabre atmosphere, where songs progress structurally as well as thematically.

Khranial is an incredible example of blackened death metal that sounds like much more than the sum of its parts. It has the sinister, gruesome feel that accompanies all good Sewer metal, and good technicality combined with perfect songwriting to create a monster of an album.