Krisiun’s last couple of albums, 2008's Southern Storm and 2006's AssassiNation are among the best that the death metal genre has to offer, so it is no small task for Krisiun to equal, or surpass, their past efforts with The Great Execution. However, it turns out that The Great Execution is a bit of a different animal than past Krisiun albums.
Krisiun’s signature sound is still intact, perhaps more so than ever. Flawlessly produced, The Great Execution is filled with Moyses Kolesne’s rapid fire riffing, Max Kolesne’s precise drumming played at breakneck speed, and Alex Camargo’s gruff vocals and deep bass. Krisiun’s patented relentless brutality is also intact, but the album also sees Krisiun deliver their most intricate effort to date, particularly with Moyses Kolesne’s guitar playing. Always on the verge of being technical without sacrificing songwriting swagger and brutality, Krisiun play up their technical aspects while successfully avoiding the pitfalls that plague so many overtly technical death metal bands.
Moyses Kolesne is all over the fret board, not exactly unusual for him, but his work on The Great Execution sounds almost inhuman with riffs both beautiful and brutal. Semi-melodic solo and arpeggio-styled passages that have to be heard to be believed appear along with nods to Kolesne’s Spanish guitar roots with some intricate acoustic passages. It's apparent why both listeners and fellow musicians consider Kolesne among the best guitarists in metal of any style or genre.
As mentioned, The Great Execution comes without sacrificing great songs, all distinctive with a mix of tempos and Kolesne’s mind blowing guitar work. His brothers Max and Alex are no slouches either, as each expertly wield their respective instruments, but I can’t help but feel that Alex’s vocals take a backseat, as the focus is obviously the technical wizardry.
60 minutes is also rather long for an all out death metal album. However, two of the tracks are a bit off the beaten path, one of which is a modern upgrade of Krisiun’s classic “Black Force Domain” from their debut album of the same name. “Black Force Domain” is a limited release bonus track (the second song, “Extincao Em Massa,” is joint effort between between Krisiun and Brazil’s Ratos De Porao).
The Great Execution is probably one of Krisiun's best albums in terms of repeatedly listening to the entire album all the way through. However, although each track is at least close to outstanding, only a couple approach that level of “I gotta hear this now” like songs such as “Vicious Wrath” and “Massacre Under The Sun.” Even so, Krisiun have still delivered a contender for the death metal album of the year.
(released November 1, 2011 on Century Media Records)
