When a band draws so clearly on an aged aesthetic, the results can be hard to parse as pastiche, worship, or otherwise. Even moreso in niche corners like the epic heavy metal crowd, where soaring vocals of varying qualities—all hoping to stick in your mind regardless—triumph alongside thick kicks, thicker riffs, and battle-tested builds, worshippers of the riff conflict with worshippers of the riffers. Enter Kontact, a young Canadian troupe whose 2022 release, the cheeky-titled EP First Contact, played tightly on the ideas set forth by the idiosyncratic but ever-mountainous Manilla Road, but with enough of their space-bound palette to paint a few stripes of their own. And while that’s still partly a base for their direction, this debut full-length exposure Full Contact calls other colorful, elder influences to the plate: a dash of Venom, a touch of Alice Cooper, and a lot of purple.1 But does a more diverse palette open the gates for a deeper form of Kontact?
Never quite the one-trick pony, the tones that built First Contact and flesh out Full Contact contain a bright and bouncing influence that moves tracks faster than the typical epic speed. Reverb affections and hopping synth lines pull a Killing Joke swirl into the cutting heavy metal that Kontact still loves (“Emperor of Dreams,” “Heavy Leather”). And like the bands of olde, this fresh troupe knows how to rock, throwing down fist-pumping numbers (“Bloodchild,” “Spectral Fire”) and creeping occult summonings (“Watcher at the Edge of Time”) with little regard for our current era. But can we talk about the vocals for a second?
I’ve no clue what prompted vocalist (and bassist) Ian Lemke (ex-Blackrat) to change his techniques so dramatically, but moving from a warbling, trad metal-reaching croon to a pure nasal sneer hasn’t done anything for the songs here. At its best, his mic-work provides brief respite from his unfortunate goblin-esque tone, with the introductory “Emperor of Dreams” teasing at a King Diamond falsetto wail—one that he never repeats—or interspersed oughs and eughs that punctuate musical shifts to heavier waters. But most of what we get throughout Full Kontact are goofy metal lyrics read by an Alice Cooper knock-off with a serious nose injury. There’s a truly disappointing character to this incessant vocal choice, one that will absolutely make or break how long the projected runtime of a thirty-two-minute heavy metal album feels, especially when the tempo drops and you can hear every syllable of plugged-nostril babble (“Watcher at the Edge of Time”).
Despite what happens front and center (with un-charming reverb) via mouth noises, Kontact can write a damn good tune. The spacious and wailing master allows synth inclusions to enter with gusto (“Heavy Leather”) and provides the atmosphere of a B-movie space attack (“Emperor of Dreams”). Faster tempo cuts that border the proto-black rumble of Venom prove to be the closest to overcoming—or rather just plain fitting—the snarling snafu, with Lemke’s warm bass rumbles playing against crunchy, cutting riffs and an old-school kick boom (“Doppelgänger,” “Spectral Fire”). Axeslingers Matt Ries (Hrom, Traveler) and Alex Langill (Hrom) know their way around a tight solo and stacked-amp drives, galloping alongside Tanner Wolff’s booming toms and whiplash tempo changes (“Ixaxar,” “Spectral Fire”). It’s too bad they’re held back by every verse and chorus.
For many of us who appreciate the less-than-perfect charm of a crackling scream and tastefully flat yell, the journey of heavy metal has landed us with loves for bands whose vocals often exist as ‘an acquired taste.’ It’s possible too, then, that you, the reader, will find this eccentric attraction in the purposefully narrow expression that Kontact has put forth with this edition of their exuberant and gripping songcraft. Kontact’s introductory mantra claims that they ‘come in peace.’ Well, I’m going to need to see a treaty that states the next album will be the best of all the worlds they’ve explored so far.
Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 102 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Dying Victims Productions | Bandcamp
Websites: kontactheavymetal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/kontact.heavy.metal
Releases Worldwide: January 19th, 2024
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