As soon as the play button is pressed, one is welcome to the opening title track, Theia, which opens up to the sound of nature; closely behind are dark riffs and drum work. Followed by spine-chilling vocals that lead towards a build-up of sinuous (remaining open track) aggression and melodies.
The listener will find these sounds and sinuous moments (well-balanced and added at the right moment), carry throughout the rest of the remaining four songs, which utilise topped-notch deliverance of providing the listener’s ears with various compositions and characteristics. Such as; powerful break-downs, galloping riffs — alternated with sinuous melodies, multiple tones and ranges from the vocals, syncopated rhythms and soaring solos, epic-energetic drum patterns, tempo changes, acoustic sections, and choruses (pushed in the background) moments.
All topped off with powerful songwriting/music, fuel-pumping entertainment of headbanging/non-headbanging moments, that come with incredible devilmanship and a modern sound in production.
At the same time, the lyrics touch on social and existential themes and take inspiration from solid emotions presented through metaphor. Simultaneously, Kalahari has captured more than death/groove metal sound within their music – but more of a dark, sinuous alternated sound that embraces a theatrical, aggressive, and emotional feeling within their music.
Theira is a shocking revelation, a devastating and violent event, a superior identity that starts the cycle of destruction and creation once again.
Following the theory of the “giant impact”, Theia is the name given to the celestial body that hit our earth billions of years ago. It created the moon, upsetting the axis of our planet, changing its rotation, and lit the spark that caused a series of reactions, This brought our world to be how we know it today; from a catastrophe to the birth of life. When only the most bottomless oblivion was on the horizon, a mother’s intervention was destroyed to create something more.
This motherly figure comes from Greek culture. ‘Theia’, a Titan of ancient Greek mythology: mother of the moon divinities, the god of the sun and dawn. She is the goddess of splendour, the spear that brings destruction and creation. Today, like back then, we live in a world wrapped by shadows and submerged into perdition, not the ones of a lifeless and futureless planet, but the ones of an unsustainable system, of a corrupted society and our mental prisons. In this darkest hour, we call upon the spear of destruction so that it can bring a new creation to a positive change. Currently, we call upon Theia.
The album comes to an end with the last song, Cabled Core. We want to give a shoutout to Metallist PR for letting us review Kalahari and their album, Theia. Now, we’re going to wrap it up by talking about the final three sins and concluding the review.