Album Review

Raketkanon – RKTKN#2

• 15th Apr 2015

When a man like Steve Albini agrees to produce your album, you know you’re on the right track. RKTKN#2, the new album from Belgian four piece Raketkanon, is so far down the right track that they’re just a dot on the horizon of righteousness.

A slithering sludge-ridden beast, this record has enough twists, turns and sonic cartwheels to keep even the most discerning of musos happy. It somehow manages to unravel in spectacular fashion but retain a coherent structure that’s just about held together in a traditional format, but in all honesty this album would work just as well as one long track. It’s so meandering and skittish that it’s barely noticeable when one track ends and another begins, connected as they are by psychotically oscillating synths and punishing waves of caustic riffs.

Recorded almost entirely live in Electrical Audio in Chicago over five frantic days with Steve Albini, this abrasive intensity is encapsulated perfectly on what is a masterfully crafted, oppressive and thrilling listen. Mid-album highlight ‘Mathilde’ is like being sucked into a black hole – almost Satanic in its misery, a sprawling down-tempo plodder that spills its guts and chokes under its own weight.

For all the blood-curdling howls and whispered passages, like with all darkness in life there is beauty amidst the chaos of Raketkanon if you look hard enough – a mournful and penitent one, but it’s there. For those of you out there still with a soul, be prepared for it to ebb away to nothing after listening to this record. All that’s left of me is a black puddle where my heart used to be and I’m just fine with that.

RKTKN#2 is out now.

Venue: RKTKN#2
Support Band: KKK Records