Seems only fair that, as they marked five years of existence as a group earlier this Spring, Norway’s Kal-El should return to the place where it all began for a special show. The Stavenger outfit, who issued their third album, Astrodoomeda (review here), played their first gig in their hometown of Stavenger at a spot called The Martinique, and sure enough, they celebrated half a decade in the same spot, the four-piece of vocalist Captain Ulven, guitarist Roffe, bassist Liz and drummer Bjudas hitting into a special set that ran over an hour and seemed to really be an effort of love in the making. Captured by Blackie Davidson in its entirety, the video features Astrodoomeda cuts like “Atmosphere,” “Code of the Ancient and “Starlight Shade” among others like “7th Sun” and “Starmist” from 2015’s sophomore outing Echosphere,”Mothership” from that same year’s Cosmic Void EP, and “Fire Machine” from their 2013 debut LP, Pakal, covering its bases as regards their catalog and saving room at the end for a grand finale of three covers.

The first of those is Kyuss‘ “Green Machine,” which received a similar treatment on Astrodoomeda; more spaced out and slowed down than the original, stretching that signature riff’s punker edge into a distinct nod. Following that, Kal-El bring up Sindre Johnsen to play guitar alongside Roffe and dig into two Black Sabbath classics with “War Pigs” and “Hole in the Sky.” The latter was previously recorded and featured as a bonus track on Ecosphere, but I’m not sure they ever put out a version of “War Pigs.” Maybe on the first record. Either way, they’re obviously well familiar with one of doom and heavy rock’s formative staples, and Captain Ulven even goes so far to sing along to the riff near the end à la Ozzy on stage. Good fun the whole way around, and with as much time dedicated to their own material as there is leading up to the finish, one could hardly accuse Kal-El of shorting themselves in terms of focusing on their own songs.

Bottom line is it’s a special moment in the life of the band and they’re fortunate to have it recorded for posterity, nostalgia, or any other reason one might think of. Live album? Digital live album? Like I said, any reason they might think of. Kal-El aren’t necessarily due for a new record yet — Astrodoomeda will have been out for a year as of later this summer, and the band seem to have a pattern for odd-numbered years — but my understanding is they’ve started to put stuff together with an eye toward making a fourth full-length and no doubt something like stopping and taking even just a single evening to reflect on where they’ve been and what they’ve done as a band will play into what they do next, so that’s all the more reason to look forward to what’s coming next, but again, that’s a while off. For the moment, the Martinique show is available to check out for anyone who’d care to dig in, and you can find it below streaming in its entirety, followed by some comment from the band.

Please enjoy:

Kal-El, Live at The Martinique, May 19, 2018

Captain Ulven on Martinique show:

February 9th, 2013, was the date Kal-El played our first show after becoming a band. That happened just a few weeks before at Martinique Bar in Stavanger, Norway. We all came together after rehearsals and decided to give it our best and give the band a shot. So it was quite natural for us to have an intimate show for friends, fans and family. We have been doing tours all over the world, played all over the world, met our heroes, played with our heroes and been praised by our heroes met loads and loads of cool bands and guys, and all that in just five years. We have truly been blessed in a lot of ways, but still we can’t cracked the code on how to get the attention of the DesertFest guys so we could play on that festival (all of them!).

The show itself was amazing, even if extremely intimate and hot, we had a good crowd, friend on stage, friends offstage, loads of beer and only smiles and good times all the way to the promise land.

Kal-El are:
Cpt Ulven – Vocals
Roffe – Guitars
Liz – Bass
Bjudas – Drums

Kal-El on Thee Facebooks

Kal-El on Twitter

Kal-El website

Thickly-riffed Norwegian rockers Kal-El release their third album, Astrodoomeda, Aug. 25 via Argonauta Records, Of the seven original inclusions on the eight-song/47-minute offering, six have some allusion to the cosmic in their name, whether it’s the leadoff title-cut or “Atmosphere,” “Mothership” or the penultimate “Spacecraft.” Based in Stavanger, along Norway’s southwestern coast, the four-piece may or may not be working to a narrative across the record’s tracks, but they’re certainly working around a theme one way or another, and that plays into some of the spacier aspects of their sound. They purport influence from the likes of Monster Magnet and Nebula, but almost immediately on “Astrodoomeda” frontman Cpt. Ulven has a strong current of solo-era Ozzy Osbourne or Christian “Chritus” Linderson of Goatess/Lord Vicar in his approach, and that adds an element of doom to match the heft in the guitar of Roffe and the bass of Liz Thompsen.

The guitarist and the bassist’s shared propensity for conveying tonal weight becomes a defining element to the material, as shown not only in the roll of “Mothership,” but in the chug of “Code of the Ancient,” which follows and with the thrust in Bjudas‘ drums and Ulven‘s cadence seems initially to be in direct conversation with Ozzy‘s “Over the Mountain.” That’s not a complaint, of course. In fact, beyond the somewhat tacky, hey-check-it-out-it’s-a-butt space-pinup cover art, there’s little in Astrodoomeda to argue with. Kal-El having made their debut with 2013’s Pakal and offered 2015’s Echosphere through Germany’s Setalight Records, their newest collection rocks heavy and unpretentious atop a sense of structure born of metallic roots and asks little by way of indulgence on the part of its audience, even in the 10-minute “Starlight Shade” or the closing cover, which is a slowed-down take on the Kyuss classic “Green Machine.”

A bold choice, to say the least, but as they make their way through the album’s second half, through the janga-janga-janga riffery of “Luna” and the more atmospheric, patient approach of “Starlight Shade” — which would seem to be the source of their Monster Magnet comparison; thinking of a meatier take on Dopes to Infinity, with a fervent rumble from Thompsen beneath effects-soaked explorations from Roffe and tense hi-hat timekeeping from Bjudas — as well as the surprisingly grounded uptempo push and hook of the three-minute “Spacecraft,” they set up a fitting context for their interpretation of one of heavy rock’s most pivotal tracks. A quick fadeout of “Spacecraft” brings on their dense tonality once again, and they punctuate “Green Machine”‘s landmark opening riff with kick drum and bass accent before casually grooving into the first verse. Their version is slower than the original, and Ulven does well with keeping his take on it distinct from John Garcia‘s performance, sticking to the style he’s used throughout Astrodoomeda to add breadth and space to the material.

As the band behind him oozes out languid vibes — apart from Bjudas, who double-times his hi-hat — he even tosses a “Pretty motherfucking please” in before “get the hell away from me” at the end of the second verse. They pick up speed for the last couple measures, which puts “Green Machine” in line with the fluid tempo shift of “Mothership” earlier, the hook of which is perhaps even more a defining moment for Astrodoomeda as a whole, however much bringing in a piece like “Green Machine” is inherently going to readjust the focus of a given listener. Indeed, it’s in cuts like “Atmosphere,” “Mothership,” “Code of the Ancient,” “Luna” and “Spacecraft” that Kal-El make their primary impression of clearly-directed space metal and heavy rock, though one shouldn’t discount the effectiveness of “Astrodoomeda” as the opener setting a broad context for all that follows it — but for “Starlight Shade,” it’s the longest piece here — with an exploratory feel and an old-time-style sci-fi sample that calls to mind something Astrosoniq might bring to bear, though again, the tones of Thompsen and Roffe are a standout factor as well.

That sample becomes something of a curio as regards not just “Astrodoomeda” itself but the CD that bears its name. Its arrival at 7:24 coincides with the end of the last vocal lines from Ulven, and the spoken voice introduces a character named Nikka or Mika — kind of hard to tell with all that low end surrounding — who is staring at the cosmos and wondering about her place in the galaxy. There’s another sample at the start of “Atmosphere” that is a countdown seemingly taken from a space shuttle launch at some point in the history of such things, but that character never seems to return, and it’s unclear if Kal-El are telling her story throughout the album — something that would put them somewhat in kinship to Swedish labelmates Cities of Mars as regards use of an overarching plot, terrestrial songcraft and space-minded themes — or if it’s a one-time placement for the title-track itself. If Astrodoomeda is intended to convey her narrative, then adding the Kyuss cover to the end, however sonically consistent it is with its surroundings, is incongruous to that process, but again, it’s unclear whether or not that’s the case, and maybe as listeners we’re not supposed to know. Fair enough either way.

Whatever its purposes in the telling, what works best about Astrodoomeda across its span is the upfront nature of Kal-El‘s presentation — they’re not trying to sneak anything by the listener as regards the origins of their style — and the balance between metallic structuring and rocking groove. The stark contrast between their longer cuts “Astrodoomeda” and “Starlight Shade” and the rest of the material surrounding would seem to be a divide waiting to be bridged in their sound, and for plenty among the converted, the elements with which they’re working overall will be immediately familiar, but their ambition carries through as less to change the genre than to cast their place within it, and Astrodoomeda succeeds in that outright. Riff heads and tone worshipers should find enough to dig into, and as for the rest of the universe, it’s out there, but who needs it anyway?

Kal-El is the fuzzed-out step-child of hard rock and heavy metal, often with hints of psychedelic and blues rock as well as doom metal. Songs typically feature a bass-heavy groove, detuned guitars and mind-expanding lyrics. Formed in Norway back in 2012 by members from Theatre of Tragedy, Six Eyes Lost and Desspo, they started rehearsing for the debut record shortly after that, growing up not just as a band, but as a little family as they found themselves around Norway on different gigs and venues.

The album “Pakal” was released on Wormhole Death Records 26th of May 2014, the video for Fire Machine 26th September 2014, and Pakal was released in Japan on Wormhole Japan 24th September 2014. Second album “Ecosphere” was released on Setalight Records 22nd of August 2015, and third album “Astrodoomeda” is released 25th of August 2017.

Kal-El are:
Cpt Ulven – Vocals
Roffe – Guitars
Liz – Bass
Bjudas – Drums

Kal-El on Thee Facebooks

Kal-El on Twitter

Kal-El website

Argonauta Records on Thee Facebooks

Argonauta Records website

With two full-lengths already under their belt, Norway’s Kal-El have been picked up by Italian imprint Argonauta Records for the release of their third. It’s been given the charm-laden title Astrodoomeda and though there isn’t a solid drop date for it as yet and the band are reportedly still in the studio, they have two new videos for tracks that will be featured on the finished product, including the rather bold Kyuss cover “Green Machine.” That and the original “Mothership” can be sampled below, and it’s worth noting that their second LP, Ecosphere, came out via respected Berlin purveyor Setalight Records in 2015.

The PR wire has all the details:

NORWEGIAN STONER ROCKERS KAL-EL SIGN TO ARGONAUTA RECORDS

Kal-El is the fuzzed-out step-child of hard rock and heavy metal, often with hints of psychedelic and blues rock as well as doom metal. Songs typically feature a bass-heavy groove, detuned guitars and mind-expanding lyrics.

Formed in Norway back in 2012 by members from Theatre of Tragedy, Six Eyes Lost and Desspo, they started rehearsing for the debut record shortly after that, growing up not just as a band, but as a little family as they found themselves around Norway on different gigs and venues.

The album “Pakal” was released on Wormhole Death Records 26th of May 2014, the video for Fire Machine 26th September 2014, and Pakal was released in Japan on Wormhole Japan 24th September 2014. Second album “Ecosphere” was released on Setalight Records 22nd of August 2015.

Kal-El are now recording the very new album to be released by Argonauta Records in 2017. Be prepared for a stunning blend of Black Sabbath meet Monster Magnet meet Nebula!

The band says: “We are proud to be a part of the Argonauta Family, and we look forward to release our 3rd album “Astrodoomeda” through this label in 2017. Gero has a solid promo package going, and we really miss that, so signing with him was a naturally choice. “Astrodoomeda” is going to be a bit heavier than any of our previous releases, but we do believe we keep the essence of Kal-El with us here as well with different songs and different moods throughout the album. The new record has been a slow process where it has been recorded at different sessions through the last year and a half and even as we speak”.

You can already have a taste of the new stuff of the band by hearing the song “Mothership” and “Green Machine” (Kyuss cover), both to be featured in “Astrodoomeda”.

Kal-El are:
Cpt Ulven – Vocals
Roffe – Guitars
Liz – Bass
Bjudas – Drums

Picture credit: Toffa Berg

www.argonautarecords.com
www.kal-el.no
https://twitter.com/Kal_El_Band
https://www.facebook.com/kalelproject

Kal-El, “Mothership” official video

Kal-El, “Green Machine” official video