Review: Kulk ‘Choosing To Die’
Well, well, well, what have we here… could it be… yes, it could, it’s only the brand-spanking new album Choosing To Die by Norwich duo Kulk. Remember that name, because by Christ, you are going to be seeing it plastered around a lot over the coming months.
If ever we needed an adrenaline shot straight to the heart of heavy music, it is now, and Kulk are the perfectly weaponised Molotov to strike at the very centre of the concern.
Volatile, abrasive, and utterly compelling, they are the true definition of essential in the 2020s. A lot of modern music is stagnant. The urgency, the ferocity, and even the fire has died, leaving us with mostly a bag of crap. Look at the yearly snore-fest that is Download and you will see tired, drab acts, complacent in their stagnation
While the fans desperately try to hold on to the dreams of past festivals and events that captured the true spirit of the scene, on what fucking planet do we need a three-hour set from Guns N’ Bloody Roses? Why haven’t they retired yet anyway?!? What they tried and failed to achieve in that time was a belief, an ideology, nay, a want for something truly fire-starting, which is far beyond their grasp.
And while y’all have been snoozing, acts like Kulk have been busy reinventing what a primal urge to devastate musically is really all about.
Now, I have a lot of respect for a duo that can produce a noise that even most quartets and quintets would struggle to muster up. Looking back, it’s acts such as Winnebago Deal, The Black Keys, and even Royal Blood, to name a few, all excelled in that space, but fuck my life, Kulk is the next level.
Having seen them with Hundred Year Old Man, Ian and Codespeaker in London a couple of years back, it had been nigh on impossible to believe that this act could command a room like they did and expel a sonic blast so thunderous it would leave you crippled in its wake. At the time, they were the only band on the bill that I had no awareness of, but just by looking at the reaction from the crowd as they took to the stage, I knew something phenomenal was heading my way, and my spidey senses didn’t fail me. Since then, I’ve been hungry for news of any Kulk-related adventures, so when the album came up for review, I was all over it.
Absolutely brutal, punishing to the max, and utterly unyielding…
For those of you without any awareness of them, but a keen interest in hunting out new acts to follow, they are a two-piece outfit comprising Thom Longdin on guitar and vocals, and Jade Ashleigh Squires on drums and synths. Their last album, It Gets Worse, was released back in 2024, so it is only fitting that it was time to spew unto the world a newer, crisper, and decidedly more antagonistic opus this time round. Think Godflesh or Fudge Tunnel meets OHHMS and you won’t be too far off the mark. Sludgy drones versus riotous, abrasive, crusty post-metal should be enough to whet your whistle. From there, it’s just a case of tuning in, sitting back, and having your eardrums melted as the album plays through.
Over the course of the nine tracks, we bear witness to some sheer aural debauchery. It’s hard to pinpoint where this would fit in, but if I had to choose, it would be at that trigger point – à la Falling Down – where everything just reaches one perfect moment of oblivion and something deep inside snaps.
Tracks such as For Blood and Being Forgotten are so unapologetically ferocious that no amount of preparation will be enough to ready you for the ensuing onslaught. The combination of disjointed guitar, thunderous percussion, and venomous vocals is ludicrously endearing, and turning away is not an option.
It is heavy throughout, but The Saddest Holiday is the one exception, breaking down into a guitar haze and softer vocal that feels like a completely different band altogether. Conjuring up thoughts of Queenadreena, they manage to outweird themselves in the process, and it’s utterly magical. Elsewhere, it’s pieces such as We’re Worried About You where they show exactly what they are made of. It’s an unrelenting sweatbox of drudge, where blood, sweat, and tears are neatly enveloped into something both dark and brooding.
The album’s lead track, An Endless Knife, ushers the whole primal event in, and even from the opening bars, it is obvious that there’s a real quality to this duo. Not your average group, Kulk prove time and time again what an actual treasure they really are. If you manage to survive to the dying moments of Our Last Walk, you will be rewarded with one last act of close decimation that is as unsettling as it is soothing.
Absolutely brutal, punishing to the max, and utterly unyielding, if you want a thrill ride that will blow your mind, then Kulk is where it’s at, 1000%. One of my picks for band and album of the year: Kulk, Choosing To Die. Miss out and you will kick yourself, big time.
Label: Church Road Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Lee Beamish
