June 2012 • Handmade Birds
I don't make it a secret that I really despise American country music—and not for lack of trying, either. Of course I'm going to be a bit skeptical about any attempt to shoehorn it into some other style. Even still, I was immediately interested in Kentucky just because it sounded so bizarre; atmospheric black metal and bluegrass? And it's not a parody album? And it's... well, it's not bad, I'll say that.
I already considered myself a mild Panopticon fan after hearing quality self-titled debut: thick, intense, grinding atmospheric metal. For the most part, Kentucky doesn't stray far from the style, so in a lot of ways it's like many of its ABM contemporaries. And in that vein, it's good stuff; nothing fantastically mind-blowing, but good enough to listen to several times.
And then comes the country. Banjos, folky vocals, the lot. The bluegrass elements aren't really fused with the black metal that seamlessly; it's more like a regular black metal album with bluegrass intros and outros, with the exception of droning fiddles during some of the songs, so I find myself not really enjoying a lot of these bits; I guess they're decent for what they are. I do, however, enjoy the audio clips that help add to the concept and thematics of the album.
Overall, I'm not totally sure if this style really works, but at the very least it's one of the most interesting listens in extreme metal that I can think of from the last several years. It's still worth listening to just for the black metal, and if you liked earlier Panopticon you'll like this. And maybe it's an opportunity to get a little bluegrass into your music diet, if that doesn't sound too unappealing.
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