The Krueggers – Hysterical Cold Side and Dark Memories (Album Review)

The Krueggers - Hysterical Cold Side and Dark Memories

Breaking out of Brazil comes a band that has been gaining ground over the last few years. Their album is the culmination of years of hard work and a progressive reflection on their way of life.

  The album cover, thought of by the band and created by Brazilian digital designer Debora Mantovani, has a brain MRI image with a dark infiltration of blood off to the side that looks to be caused by blunt force trauma inside a cold expressionless mannequin face. The situation helps to express the view that the damaged part of the brain has affected the person profoundly and changed their personality. The band say “we all have a part in our brains to lock some dark memories and sometimes these memories came back in a ‘hysterical’ way from that side of the brain trying to get the control of your mind and put you down”. In a way, this album is a testament to what you can achieve when you put your negativity into positive action.

The opening track, Lying Machine, pulls you in with a sense of emergency and disruption followed by a feeling of you being chased. When the guitar catches and beats you with the axe it actually feels welcomed.

With this opener, the Brazilian quartet delivers a solid start to their album that overall is a homage to nu-metal, grunge and post-grunge music drawing in influences from a number of the greatest rock bands. As you listen to the album you are taken in by their respect for the bands that have influenced them.

The last track of the album On your hands is structured differently from the rest and is a good example of how much musical depth they have by encompassing all the elements of their style they have in order to deliver a unique listening experience. The music is well laid out with a tight line-up to create a solid album combining enthusiastically enraged vocals, a solid variation in drum styles, and well-placed changes in pace. Listening to the intro of Bullshit is a must with headphones to appreciate their attention to detail for sonic playfulness.

The vocalist can seemingly draw on the spirit of the harsh sounds of what irritates him to either shout it out or express it with subtly hidden angst. His voice has that grinding cracking style with a mild lack of clarity that suits the style and blends well with the drop-tuning that suits his voice. While there are strong references to grunge on the album have a listen to the solos. The band breaks away from the simple and crazy ones and provides you with solos that were probably recorded in one go as the guitarist ripped out his heart and used it as a plectrum. There is a good variety of styles and tempo of solo to create a series of notes that make you reach for the air guitar. It’s at this time that the band really shines from others.

Overall this an album that I will have on my shelf as it makes you want to move to Seattle in the ’90s and if that is an idea you feel comfortable with you will enjoy this album. Sometimes the riffs are all too familiar and that is where I would like to see the band explore their options more. This is an album that introduces a band to the world that they are in touch with their music with a tight formation but it shows that they are capable of more and can make something more their own.

Release Year: 2020
Label: Eclipse Records
Category: Album
Country: Brazil

Reviewed by Byron Lotz