Kadavar – For the Dead Travel Fast

Many times we usually talk about the Christmas records of certain bands and in this case of Kadavar We could almost talk about the Berlin group’s Halloween album. The vibe and style have changed, but welcome and divine evolution. The nine themes that make up that For the Dead Travel Fast they make your afternoon happy and you see that they have achieved it again with another good twist to the proposal. The rock of the 70s ask for passage and I think we can give them the scepter and the title of best band in retro rock current. There are many 70s influences but I would like to highlight the evident presence of Tribulation, a group that is not exactly on the label of retro rock. There are many echoes that can remind you, but especially an album that, here everything is confirmed, is titled Children of the Night, curiously as the title of one of the songs. Another of the influences that I see evident is that of the psychedelic Temples, specifically their magnum opus Sun structures.

Hackles in the wonderful introduction of “The End”. Ghostly voice, wind effects and keyboard to put us in situation. “Note that this is not what you expect”, they seem to tell you … The entrance blends with “The Devil’s Master” playing between some Ghost in its strongest version and Tribulation of the Children of the Night. Even the lord Lupus It has changed a bit the way of singing that it usually has, going far beyond what you can expect from the Stoner rock. “The Devil’s Master” is a perfect example of the best of Kadavar focused on the darkness that prevails in this work. Sharp melodies of voice for the German vocalist as in “Evil Forces”, and the truth is that the surprise is for the better. Cavernous sounds, grim riffs and the bass of “Dragon” Bouteloup sounding beyond the grave they finish the job.

The keyboards gain prominence in the disturbing “Children of the Night” with that intense roll of “Tiger” Bartelet and those double voices so Ghost. Games with intensities, silences and textures for a fun product retro surprising for a group like Kadavar. They have never sounded so accessible. Similar ingredients for “Dancing with the Dead” which has a riff choreable and an air between western and haunting. It seems incredible that they are the same Kadavar from the first album, but everything works. At the same level of quality is “Poison” which has some very interesting stops anticipating the chorus and an acoustic interlude. The vocal line is wonderful, demonstrating that most of this material deserves to be played live, because with the stage intensity these Germans spend it can be very spectacular.

In “Saturnales” the dreamlike and ethereal are explored in a composition that is close to what they usually perpetrate Graveyard (Sweden) in his latest works. Lupus he sings better than ever and more melodic than ever. The psychedelia rules in “Demons in My Mind”, a cut that has already tried the stage boards and that shines because of its darkness. Feeling of occultism and connections with Coven with the distortion of Black Sabbath. The work of “Dragon” and “Tiger”It is solid as a rock. It is in “Long Forgotten Song” when the combo expands to almost eight minutes looking for sounds from previous records and playing with volumes, intensities and atmospheres again. That double voice ending is worth its weight in gold so that later “Tiger” Baltelt make your own with the drumsticks and kill him with one.

Surprising evolution towards the dark and gloomy by some Kadavar They continue to demonstrate album after album that have no limits or ties. For the Dead Travel Fast it’s a record of Halloween and another demonstration to their rival gangs and the like that they can do whatever they want and don’t need to disguise themselves as Ghost. Possibly alongside Graveyard are the most important group of retro rock despite the fact that there are dozens of bands around the world with wonderful proposals. They will be touring soon and I really would not mind at all if a play like this is given a venue. The cover is the other great achievement of the group placing us between the late 60s and early 70s. Just when it all started.