Time Signature Rotten genesis...

Genre: blackened death metal

Whoa! This is weird! But cool. Building on decidedly primitive death metal riffage, Muknal's eponymous debut EP belongs in the category of more old school death metal. Then again, there is a sense of uniqueness about the release that was not characteristic of early death metal.

For instance, the opening track features some pretty spacy keyboard arrangements amidst the death metal madness, and 'Rotten Genesis' opens with a heavy doom-laden passage which is not unlike what Autopsy had to offer back in the day, but still more atmospheric - there are also some pretty spacy keyboards and ambient effects in this song. With its many blastbeats and many changes, 'Eidolon' is perhaps the most traditional death metal track on the EP, but still characterized by Muknal's originality.

One of the characteristic aspects of this EP is the heavy use of delay and reverb, which generates the same atmospheric feel that characterizes a lot of black metal, but it also makes it considerably difficult to hear what is going on when Muknal make use of blastbeats. The lo-fi production also contributes to a sense of chaos - or rather, it amplifies the chaos that is already inherent in the three compositions on the EP.

Definitely original, "Muknal" combines the feel of atmospheric black metal with the brutality and aggression of primitive death metal, and the outcome is a quite original and unique sounding type of blackened death metal.