Vera: It has been a long time since I heard something from Cales. This musical vehicle of one of the most respected musicians of Czech Republic – Peter ‘Blackie’ Hosek has been the long term guitarist in the legendary, occult band Root – released (among others) ‘The Pass In Time’ (2001) and ‘Uncommon Excursion’ (2004) in the past and although both albums had a rather different approach, they turned out to be meritorious albums. ‘The Pass In Time’ was epic and inspired by pagan inheritance. ‘Uncommon Excursion’ dealt with “real” life and showed a more straight rock approach.
I now discover that a lot of things have changed. During one of the Brutal Assault festivals I found out that Blackie has left Root in 2004 and in 2006 he turned Cales into a one man project. Most likely that is why the album ‘Savage Blood’ from 2007 was an instrumental one. In 2009 the fifth studio album ‘KRF’ came out, with the pretty strange title ‘KRF’. My first impression was a bit common on looking back on a long lost love: what did I ever like so much in him? Well, this is expressed too rude, but I have to admit that ‘KRF’ appears to be a weaker album than ‘The Pass In Time’ that made me write about comparisons with Opeth and Dan Swanö (vocals). When I listen to ‘KRF’ I mainly think of Bathory and Blackie consequently returned to the pagan/Viking metal themes.
On ‘KRF’ it gets painfully clear that Blackie might be a talented guitarist, but he is not a proper vocalist. Okay, this roughness and unpolished production indeed have a bond with Bathory, but we are years later. The general atmosphere is alright: nice folksy guitar leads, sturdy harmony chants to sing along and tight riffs. ‘Barbarian Paganus’ is a sing along track to enjoy with a large pint of beer in a smoky bar. ‘Resolution’ opens very strong with guitars that remind me of Primordial. In the meantime Viking choirs and folkloristic guitar melodies sound very familiar, due to the fact that there are so many pagan metal albums coming out and therefore it gets more difficult to stand out. In 2001 it was pretty new and refreshing when a band chose to play that style. In this respect I want to recommend ‘KRF’ when you are tired of those sleek productions and long for something real, spontaneous and unpolished. The song ‘Pass In Time’ reminds me of this album from the past, but it is a new one. It is sung in a storytelling way, kind of troubadour style. The riffs in ‘Song Of Outlaws’ are very akin to those of ‘From Whom The Bell Tolls’ (Metallica). ‘Legacy Of Honour’ is my favourite: slower and built up with doom overtones and a beautiful guitar solo. ‘Savage Blood’ is a strong song too, relished with keyboards. ‘Magnificent Masterpiece Of Apocalypse’ finishes this record with an epic length of eight minutes. In this song a saxophone is used again (in the past too) and that is gently inwrought in the brave pagan metal. As conclusion I can mention that ‘KRF’ does not make me fall off my chair in surprise, but it certainly isn’t a pagan/folk metal album of dime-a-dozen garbage. And that’s something worth these days!
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