renkls Krokmiten is a band with a twenty year past, but an enormous fifteen year hiatus between their initial demos and what was to be their debut album Alpha-Beta. Released as one 46 minute track (as a free download no less) That album, released in 2011 fit best under the category of experimental death metal, and their followup, Omicron-Omega continues in much the same vein.

The bands creator and frontman Simlev describes the album as relating chaos on interplanetary levels, and the gruff vocal style he employs throughout the continuous fifty minute track compounds a sense of urgency. The music itself throws us straight into the heaviness, and you best get used to that intensity and pace, because about 90 percent of the track is in this fast, aggressive style, with only minute pauses for swirling atmospherics.

This fits with my expectations of the band, but the consistency of the style, having not being broken up by a greater weight of dynamics, soft, loud and middle ground, makes the album pummel into, and I dislike saying it, boredom or predictability. The solos within the mix don't stand out as much as Alpha-beta, namely because of the consistency of the bands approach. The middle ground builds up to heaviness, such as around the 23 or 42 minute mark make a welcome change as the band escalates tension rather then burning us out with white-knuckling the entire track. In a sense this is more of a regression from the more defined builds in tension Krokmiten displayed in Alpha-beta.

That certainly isn't to say this isn't still a reasonably talented band behind what we're hearing through the speakers. I was certainly impressed with their debut more then here because it feels a bit too familiar, not as experimental as the debut was, and covering less new ground. With a stronger production value, perhaps more impact on the drums and dynamic range, this band can soar to a masterful level; as it stands now, it feels like they are content to thrash about in their own defined stomping ground without exploring new territory, and perhaps potentially bringing their music to new heights.

In closing, if you have heard Alpha-Beta, you can expect much of the same intensity throughout its heavier moments, with less emphasis on the more subtle dynamics. While I can appreciate the decision to be consistently heavy and in our face, the music proves draining and underwhelming in its consistency. However we are still dealing with a talented band who is yet to carve their masterpiece; and seeing as they keep a close communication with their fans, and their music is free - it's still a worthwhile release, if only as a prelude to potentially greater heights.

Free to download at http://www.krokmiten.com/