Krakatoa - Channel Static Blackout (1999)

www.myspace.com/krakatoamn
from: Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
genre: Metal / Hardcore
audio: 160 kbps

After the dissolution of Threadbare and Harvest, and spurned on by the acclaim afforded the Clouds Burned by Sunshine seven-inch, Krakatoa would briefly reform once again to release its debut full-length, Channel Static Blackout, before dissolving once again into the ether of its members lives. Channel Static Blackout is a metal album in the truest sense of the word, created and conceived before the current trend of death/black metal-influenced hardcore that is currently gaining notoriety. Galloping riffs, harmonised leads, nods to both '80s thrash and Priest/Maiden-influenced power metal, acoustic passages and a temperamental atmosphere tempered with hardcore's more focused vision and the vicious, brutal vocals of former Harvest screamer Dave Walker all collide on Channel Static Blackout. Melodic metal heroes such as Iron Maiden, In Flames and the Gothenburg metal movement may make for easy comparisons, but Krakatoa's identity shines through. Incorporating a bleaker, darker take on metal and lyrically eschewing dungeon and dragons imagery to weave a tale of betrayal, despair and redemption, Channel Static Blackout stands as a powerful metal album, but without the shame that usually accompanies metal albums. Self-dismissed as one of the most unimportant and obscure bands of the '90s, the tragedy is that they would be leading the metallic movement currently in hardcore if they ever reformed.

Tracklist:
1. Never And Ever
2. Fell Off The Face Of The Earth
3. Insomniac
4. Apparition
5. Too Little, Too Late
6. Broken Mirror
7. Memory Cage

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