EMBRACE THE DEAD

If you want to buy a cd of Kekal, buy this.. This is the best cd that I have heard of these guys, and it's nice, sometimes really enjoyable -but not essential! It did not make me smile all day and wake up in the morning with an urge to shout out the lyrics at the top of my lungs...

If you want to hear the Prog side of Kekal, skip this album and listen to 1000 Thoughts of Violence, their 4th album. Their 2nd album, Embrace The Dead, isn't part of their later days avant prog outputs. While this album has all the 'proggy' elements like epic long songs who don't always follow verse-chorus-verse structure, tempo & key changes, sub-sections, etc. This is much comparable to the song structure made famous by Iron Maiden, mixed with symphonic gothic metal and melodic scandinavian-styled black metal. More metal than prog, but a solid album with traditional metal elements.

7.5/10