Shortly after I finished writing my review of Khorne's first demo, I learned that they released their first EP called We Begin. I really liked Resurrection, so I was naturally excited by this news. Luckily, this offering does not disappoint.
First of all, the production is much better than it was on the demo. It no longer has this muffled quality, and everything sounds so clear. The drums mainly play the slow beats that are commonplace in doom/death, but what really caught my ear was how powerful the snare was. It's obvious that these guys care deeply about dynamic range. You don't see many Americans putting this much thought into dynamic range, now do you? The bass mainly follows the guitars, but they're really thick and help to reinforce the atmosphere of the album.
The vocals mainly consist of a croaking growl which is occasionally accompanied by a pained scream. This is the only part of the music I felt needed improvement. If you ask me, they should have been more forceful and powerful. The guitars, on the other hand, are fantastic. Sure, the riffs are nothing new, but what really matters is the emotions they express. They range from the sad and melodic cries of “Resurrection” to the Black Sabbath worship of “Pandemonium” to the dark and sinister dirges of “Khorne”. They even play some solemn clean guitars on “Memoirs of Chaos” that sort of remind me of all those depressive black metal bands I used to listen to.
We Begin represents a huge leap forward for Khorne in terms of production, performance, and songwriting. It's an excellent display of dark and morose doom/death. I never knew Pakistan could produce metal this great. I have a lot of promise for these guys. I hope they continue to hone their craft and achieve even bigger success in the future.
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