KARLOFF premiere new track "Crown Kvlt Fate" at Metal.de

Hailing from Germany, Karloff formed in 2018 initially as a means for erstwhile Graveyard Ghoul member Tom Horrified to blow off some punk-oriented steam with a couple close comrades. While their first Demo ’18 and then subsequent Raw Nights mini-album presented them as a more gutter-level Midnight, it was 2022’s debut album, The Appearing, where the true form of Karloff took shape. Recasting the band in a totally new, altogether more unique light, The Appearing strutted forth to a rich, robust, and rippingly muscular sound not unlike ancient-days metalpunk; think Carnivore, Best Wishes-era Cro-Mags, or even early Nasty Savage, and you’re in Karloff’s wheelhouse.

Turning that wheel yet further, Karloff return with their second full-length, Revered by Death. For sure, Revered by Death follows logically from The Appearing. That same lead-heavy stomp is present and accounted for here, but the paces Karloff go through are undeniably moodier and murkier; if there wasn’t a sense of stifled violence here, it would almost be accurate to call LP#2 “sludgy.” No amount of energy is sacrificed, thankfully, as Karloff’s olde-worlde evil goes in an even-darker direction while the tempos, in kind, feel slightly more reined in. Fleshing out that darkness further are chorus FX, once again tastefully applied and suggesting still a post-punk influence that could blossom in the future; just witness the deathrock-in-glue instrumental “On Weathered Altar” for poignant proof. As the present stands, Revered by Death more than lives up to its lofty title, with Karloff’s heaviness coming not so much from the volume or distortion they employ but, rather, from the overall feel of their songwriting: punchier, but portending a deeper doom & gloom