Artist: KOH
Label: Self-released
Release: 2008
Rating: 3.5/5
KOH are yet another alternative rock surprise coming out of Croatia! The guys from Karlovac cultivate an avant-garde sound that’s a fantastic blend of thick groove levers in a tight rhythm line, with a thick, slicing, melody-driven bass in extraordinary conversation with the drumming, which keeps carving out enough room for a witty construction of appealingly dynamic transitions.
KOH are seriously dark. A gloomy atmosphere soaks their EP “The Censor”. There’s a strong industrial element running through the band’s always-compelling avant-garde profile. The guys built most of this darkness by “mangling” the frenetically screaming yet consistently melodic vocals through a distortion effect, then built up the framework of riff motifs and melodies with a masterful use of programmed samples. The axiom “less is more” is one of the core principles guiding KOH’s creativity. There are fewer motifs, but that makes them hit all the harder. Use You is a contagious track, a real candidate for a world-class hit, incredibly fluid in its construction, with a superb symbiosis between chorus and pre-chorus throughout. Ambitious Tool worship dressed up in Nine Inch Nails off-the-rack!
KOH, as the Croatians keep proving, are a reminder that the bands from our southern neighbor have the rhythm thing totally figured out. The high-voltage rhythmic groove and an angry, fate-resigned yet utterly down-to-earth, self-assured rebellious voice are the main generators of KOH’s energy. The guys add to that avalanche-like walls of sound built on guitar riffs, and considering how deafeningly loud and seductively under-the-skin the riffs they craft in the studio are, the tag alternative metal isn’t even that much of a stretch here.
The guys don’t hide the inspiration they draw from the American avant-garde kings Tool, the music keeps the fleeting outlines of the nineties “grunge” of the resurrected Alice In Chains, and on the surface you can suddenly stumble on an excellent mix of directness and a high-kicking, totally stripped-down, simple yet rawly honest Queens Of The Stone Age riff dressed in trendy production (Thoughtful Animal). The band’s tendency to create bleak, gloomy feelings that can freeze the blood in your veins comes through most clearly in the fourth track, the instrumental Korona.
With KOH arriving on the music scene, the core of healthy avant-garde rock music in Croatia has gained a strong new ally. An ally whose music could potentially knock on the very top of the world’s door. Next to Rijeka’s Father, the far darker KOH are on an excellent path to being embraced by the world with open arms too. They’re fresh, full of their own musical ideas, and what matters most (and I’m repeating myself again)! They’re hugely appealing musically because they sound distinctive and avant-garde. So we can wait with the greatest impatience for the band’s first studio album.
Lineup
Peđa Cetinjanin – vocals
Bojan Petković – guitar
Dario Lonjak – keyboards
Stjepan Perković – bass
Bojan Ulemek- drums
Production
Boris Rakamarić & KOH
Tracklist
1. Use You
2. The Censor
3. Thoughtful Animal
4. Korona
EP runtime: 18.40
