Subtlety is rarely employed in heavy metal. It's a tactic that's wholly opposite from the genre's typically brutish nature. Yet subtlety gives power to the arching riffs and drones that bind I Am Kuranes (Hoss Records), the debut release from Atlanta trio Celephais. Like the H.P. Lovecraft story from which the group takes its name, the album is a sprawling, inward journey into cosmic mystery.
Made up of Erik Rozsa (guitar, vocals, keyboard), Chris Brooks (drums) and R. Mexico (bass, keyboard, noise), Celephais wields propulsive drums with ominous fugues where song structures collapse into noise. The group transcends the assault of doom metal with a sound that's rooted in the lo-fi '90s.
