Genre/Influences: Apocalyptic-rock, doom-rock, krautrock.

Background/Info: Set up by Nathalie Houtermans (vocals)  and Hans Dirksden-Smits (guitar) they later on were joined by Martin Kooy (bass) and Jacob van der Linden (drums). After two self-released albums on cassette format they now joined hands together with Seja Records to unleash the official debut album of Katie Kruel.

Content: If you’re a bit familiar with the Seja roster, you’ll have to agree Katie Kruel will definitely enlarge the sonic horizon of the label established in The Netherlands. The music sounds pretty dark, sometimes a bit doom-like. It has something apocalyptic-rock driven joined by the enraged vocals of Nathalie Houtermans. Some passages also has something krautrock-minded so in the end Katie Kruel is mixing and revisiting different genres and influences.

+ + + : The dark sound merged together with the enraged vocals both create a dangerous cocktail. It’s a furious opus, which especially on the second half is reaching a sonic cataclysm. The furious format has something exciting, which mainly emerges at “Still” and “Jinx”. I also have to say a word about the dark, sober, but cool artistic digipak.

– – – : If you’re familiar with Seja Records, you for sure are going to be surprised. It sounds like a challenge, which might catch the attention of a wider audience. I have to admit it’s not really my favorite album from the Seja roster. 

Conclusion: It’s not that easy to get an idea about the sound of Katie Kruel, but if you take Can, Limp Bizkit and Nirvana together and you’re next adding an extra dark touch on top you maybe will have an idea what to expect!

Best songs: “Still”, “Jinx”, “Headless Heart”.

Rate: (6½).

Artist: http://katiekruel.net / www.facebook.com/Katie.Kruel

Label: www.seja.nl / www.facebook.com/sejarecords