Denmark's Konkhra have got on quite a bit, music-wise, during their long history which began in 1989 under the name Vicious Circle. Although death metal was the band's style in the beginning, they also incorporated groove into their music back in the day.

Thirteen years on, 'Reality Check' is Konkhra's take on American thrash metal à la Testament with pure Scandinavian death metal influences and also very rocking bits. And I'm talking about Testament's most death metal flirting album, 1997's 'Demonic' and its successor 'The Gathering' (1999). Yes, 'Reality Check' owns quite a bit to those albums, but still Konkhra managed to carve their own niche; this is somewhat similar to Daemon's 'Eye for an Eye' album, which already featured drummer Gene Hoglan. The band throw a lot of hooks toward a listener, being great riffs, massive war-elephant grooves and some subtle melodies with Mid-Eastern twist. 'Hellhound on My Trail' definitely contains latter era Pantera's heavy, stomping groove. The majority of the music is mid-paced and faster, so crawling 'The Lions Are Hungry' jumps nicely out of the bunch. The two instrumentals fit well, bringing in more variety.

The energy that the band transmits is so punishing, so powerful and strong. Anders Lundemark's (also guitar) vocals are more hardcore than death metal, but still very brutal and low, and not any kind of whining. Actually, one voice comes to my mind and, maybe not surprisingly it is Chuck Billy's on those two aforementioned Testament platters.

The sound rips yet is stomping, very heavy on the lower spectrum. This is a true headbanging record! Everything is well-balanced between each other, which is very surprising when thinking how heavy it all sounds. And it was produced by the band themselves, so it's even more better an accomplishment. It was the cover art that stuck into my mind when I saw an advertisement in some magazine. Beautiful (in a way, maybe not the right word for it) Blade Runner-esque cityscape decorates 'Reality Check'. The lyrical themes follow human stupidity over centuries, from Egyptian civilization over 4500 years ago to right this year.

One of the albums that surprised me in a totally positive way. My knowledge about the band was pretty small, about one video on Headbanger's Ball. Anyways, 'Reality Check' is a sort of European cousin of Testament's 'Demonic' and 'The Gathering' (1999). Check out 'Grapes of Wrath', 'The Lions Are Hungry' and 'Warmonger' and be proven. Neck ache guaranteed by this album! A bloody bruiser of an album!

Rating: 7½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
07/07/2003 09:54