There isn’t much that can’t be said about all that can be done in extreme metal as we know it in its modern form. For all of its old school leanings and bold innovation that are constantly contrasting each other to magnificent lengths at all times, the sheer culture of it all has been stretched, twisted, and contorted into all manner of different shapes to make the landscape of it all volatile and unpredictable while always intense for all that it is. Some purveyors seek further depths of that madness with fewer still returning to us with the glory of sights unseen and sounds unheard. It was with their first album three years ago that Kamra began down that path, yet it is here with its second offering that the gloves are well and truly off.

A band’s evolution is something that can effortlessly be one of the most fascinating things that a listener can witness. It’s one thing to watch a band dabble in new things or try to approach things from a slightly different angle but bearing witness to the metamorphosis of an act that holds nothing back and goes out of its way to challenge not just itself but the craft as a whole is a performance that we seldom receive. Hands down, it is every given inch of what Kamra summons throughout “Unending Confluence” that we’re given the privilege to feast our eyes upon precisely such a creation. Six tracks of unyielding ferocity that know not the confines of black metal nor do they ever take so much as a moment to work within the conventional boundaries of the craft, “Unending Confluence” is a dark psychedelic effort that weaves in and out of multiple planes such that the mind struggles to fully encapsulate all that it is. Yet one thing is clear above all else: Kamra utterly captivates. Brutal yet magnificent to the highest degree, this is the kind of layered intensity that begs one to venture ever further into the screaming depths lest some small truth or treasure escape your senses, and that’s just unacceptable once you get a taste. From its riffs to its atmospheres to the complicated songwriting that’s as smooth as it is compelling, there isn’t so much as a shred of “Unending Confluence” that doesn’t challenge orthodox black metal and rise in enthralling victory over and over again.

I’ve long held the belief that there’s untold excellence to be found in the reaches where genre boundaries blur and the experimental and unbound reign with it being every possible moment of “Unending Confluence” that further cements that belief for me. There’s so much to be enamored by when it comes to the raw majesty that this record possesses. Black metal is in a fantastic state with it being thanks to bands like Kamra and performances such as this that things are sure to stay interesting in many ways for quite some time.

“Unending Confluence” releases on September 19th via Avantgarde Music!

LISTEN to an advanced track from “Unending Confluence” on Bandcamp here or via YouTube below.

LIKE Kamra on Facebook here.

FOLLOW Kamra on Instagram here.