KIR are a Black Metal five-piece originating from Poland. Having been active since 2017, the band had not released anything formal until late 2024, debuting with the “L’appel Du Vide” full-length, released through Godz Ov War Productions. “L’appel Du Vide” is five songs spanning just over half an hour of thundering and detail-rich Black Metal, with a sonic template on par with current-era GORGOROTH, MARDUK and DARK FUNERAL. Opening the album is the intro ‘Destination Void’, a wash of ambience and reverb-drenched guitar, blasting drums begin to swell in and the introduction seamlessly gives way to ‘Monument’. ‘Monument’ itself opens with a basic chord sequence on guitar, comprised of fifth-chords played tremolo-style, accompanied by a mid-tempo blast beat that sets the pacing of the track. Lacking the conventional ‘verse / chorus / verse’ song structure, ‘Monument’ is a progressive piece packed with an abundance of minor details to keep itself fresh. While the primary riffs are generally simple chord sequences, as to be expected with many Black Metal releases, there are sonic flourishes that keep stagnation at bay. For example, towards the end of the track, KIR really locks in and the entire band plays as a singular wall of sound with staccato start / stop technique. While only lasting for a few bars, this complete change in sound and structure is a system shock to the listener. ‘Zńow’ showcases the precise percussion work from session drummer Krzysztof Klingbein, with expert syncopation and fine detail packed within his cymbal and tom work. Single-note lead work emerges atop the primary chord progression, with details such as rapid 3-note tapping occasionally presenting itself for additional sonic detail. ‘Zńow’ is a primarily a mid-tempo track, spanning over seven minutes, ending with a minute of ambience before feeding into ‘Eter’. ‘Eter’ opens on a single-note discordant melody before returning to the mid-tempo formula that has dominated the album thus far. The tempo does dramatically pick up towards the end of the song, once again highlighting the extra details that keep the songs interesting. ‘Apoptosis’ is the closer, spanning a deep nine and a half minutes in length. This is the only track to feature English lyrics, as the rest of the album is in the band’s native Polish. The theme repeats itself here, mid-tempo Black Metal with plenty of detail tucked away; excellent percussion work, guitar tapping and clear accentuating bass work, amongst other things. KIR have entered the Black Metal arena armed with suffocating atmosphere, dense tight riffing and a spread of different techniques that keep things interesting. This is worth checking out for fans of post-2020 Black Metal that is more on the mid-tempo side of things. For more info on KIR, see www.facebook.com/kirmetal and for more information on Godz Ov War Productions, feel free to check out www.facebook.com/godzovwarproductions.