They must be putting something in the water in Norway. Kristiansand band Korrupt have managed to give me the same feels that Kvelertak’s Endling album did a few years ago. For their third album entitled The Weight We Carry, the band consisting of Marius Jahnsen (vocals/guitar), Fredrik Nome (vocals/guitar), Thomas Holler (guitar/vocals), Aleksander Johnson (bass/vocals) and Henrik Kyte Assmann (drums) absolutely nail their sound. Formed in 2013, the years of playing together have clearly paid off as this is one tight kicking rock n’ roll band.
Straight away the guitar tones of opener ‘Narrative Warfare’ land squarely in the sweet spot. With a little nod to classic metal, the riffs come hard and fast. I’m reminded of the thrill I got when I first encountered Kvelertak. The snarling punk vocal attack over a furious riot of guitars and pumping drums really bites. The blood curdling yelp at the start of ‘Waiting For The Sun’ is like a Viking warrior hurtling onto the beach from a longboat. Over a blizzard of blast beats the song powers at speed, you can’t catch your breath. ‘Being, Paranoid’ boasts a killer chorus, these guys aren’t just about creating a punktastic cacophony.
Title track ‘The Weight We Carry’ begins with duelling guitars, not a million miles from Iron Maiden. Once again, the chorus worships at the altar of melody. The urgent rush of ‘Devoted to the Grave’ bleeds into a mammoth chorus which absolutely points to the aforementioned Kvelertak. ‘Deathwish’ stacks riffs over insane blast beats, before dropping into a slamming chorus. The switch in tempo feels effortless, and the chorus is another mighty earworm.
Jagged riffs stab hard in the pogo inducing ‘Totalitarian’. Then ‘Eternal Rest’ rolls the die and lands right on the six six six for some black metal riffage. Contorting like a car wreck the song veers between styles, you can feel veins pop as the band play their energised rock n’ roll. ‘I Am the Soil’ goes gothic with church bells and a funereal guitar riff. As the song shifts through the gears we end up in a wasteland of staccato guitars, before dropping into a glorious chorus with almost clean vocals. It’s a deadly way to finish this stellar album.
I love finding new bands that fuse black metal with other genres. Discovering Kvelertak really was some sort of epiphany, and here’s another band from nowhere, to pique my interest in the same way. Korrupt don’t mess about, this album is a glorious riot of melody and blackened punk rock spirit. Highly recommended!
