Linus Klausenitzer finally announces his first solo album.
Known for his mastery of the bass, which he plays and has played in such renowned bands as Alkaloid, Obsidious, Eternity’s End and Obscura, the musician also handles keyboards on Tulpa, which will be released by AOP Records in 2023.
The album is recorded with Hannes Grossmann (Alkaloid, Tryptikon, ex-Necrophagist, ex-Obscura… ) on drums, Ian Waye (Soreption) on guitars, Javi Perera (Obsidious) on vocals and Vanesa Jalife on piano, as well as Roland Grapow (Masterplan, ex-Helloween), Aaron Homma (Annihilator, Killitorous), Philippe Tougas (First Fragment, Chthe’ilist, ex-Serocs…), V. Santura (Triptykon, ex-Dark Fortress), Dee Dammers (U.D.O.), Chris Hermsdörfer (Beyond the Black, Serenity) and Nicolas Alberny (Gorod) as guests.
King Of Hearts opens with a melancholic acoustic guitar, followed by Linus‘ bass, which carries us into a Progressive Death Metal-accented rhythm section and powerful vocal parts. The many heady harmonics take turns to provide no downtime, even during slowdowns when there’s always something to listen to, just as on Axiom Architect, where the sound is by far more virulent while keeping its complexity and relentless melodies. We have a moment where two different lead parts clash before returning to the hard-working rhythm that leads into Our Soul Sets Sail and its melancholic introduction, followed by a jerky basis and heavy-influenced harmonics completing the aggressive approach. The two voices join forces on the chorus, but easily give way to the instrumental before returning to guide us into the short Sehraff, which lets the musicians combine rage with more ethereal elements to highlight its diversity. Sword Swallower takes a rather Old School approach at first, but we soon realize that heaviness is also the order of the day on this track, before the musicians gently lead us on to Sister in Black, a rather short but relatively joyful instrumental composition. Darkness quickly resurfaces with The Devil’s Tongue, a much wilder track that skilfully blends aggressive elements with the usual musicians’ catchy patterns’ complexity, before Queen Of Hearts returns to energetic sounds without forgetting raw strength and madness. The clean/saturated vocal duet once again works wonders, but it’s with the tortured parts that we feel the vocalist’s investment the most, while we find more aggressive elements on Dig Deeper and its alternation between raw riffs and epic dissonant melodies. The track flies by relatively quickly, giving way to Lunar Assailant, the last and longest of the ten compositions, where musicians struggle to string together the different atmospheres they are capable of creating, using all their skills to keep us on the edge of our seats until the last piano note.
Linus Klausenitzer‘s reputation precedes him, and the announcement of his solo album has already caused quite a stir. Tulpa‘s cast is a dream, and the musicians have succeeded in sublimating the bassist’s creations in the best possible way.
90/100