Art by Ai-lan Metzger
Style: Symphonic death metal, progressive death metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Fleshgod Apocalypse, Gorgon, Haggard, Septicflesh
Country: Switzerland
Release date: 14 March, 2025
My girlfriend and I, as two creative people, are in staunch agreement on why most creatives don’t make it. Hell, it can even be extended to a reason why most people don’t make it: self-reflection. Creating and releasing a piece of music is bearing a piece of your soul to the world, and in the age of the internet, it’s swimming along with all ten-trillion other minnows in the same pond. The internet is ruthless when it comes to criticism, and it can drive a lot of artists to feel that their work isn’t the problem, but themselves. How could you not? To have something you’ve worked so hard on be torn to shreds can’t be easy, hence why if I find a band with actual talent, I express disappointment rather than disgust.
I’ve rarely thought of the symphonic swirls and meat-headed riffing of Kerberos. My review of their incredibly mediocre debut, Of Dismay and Mayhem, wasn’t one I’m especially proud of, nor did the album provide a very memorable experience overall. But like every mildly talented band who make mediocre albums, I give them a challenge at the end of my review. I expected more from Kerberos, especially with an actual choir and obvious classical composition experience under their belt. So, like the arbiter of music that I am, I threw my mediocre score in their faces, looked down from my throne with an expression of mild pity, and asked them to try harder. Never did I expect them to actually follow up with an improvement.
Kerberos took that Dismay review personally. Not by sending us piles of hate mail or threatening to blow up our secret underwater headquarters, but by possibly not paying attention to my review at all, and getting their asses to work. I’m going to give praise where praise is due, with the first bit of it focused on clean vocalist Ai-lan Metzger. I was incredibly critical of her cleans on Of Dismay and Mayhem, and rightfully so. Hearing her operatically harmonize with harsh vocals in ‘Near-Violence Experience’ made me do a double take. Instead of crashing into the song as she did last time around, she gracefully weaves her way through string-quartet accented riffs. The contrast between seventh string chugs, vocal acrobatics between her and bassist/guitarist Felicien Burkhard, and all the grandeur that their debut was missing was enough to make me sit my ass down and hear Kerberos out for the rest of this unfortunately brief EP.
Apostle is a mere 25 minutes long, half the length of its predecessor and all the better for it. It’s much better to be left wanting more than wanting the record to be over. With only two songs over 5 minutes, the EP blows past in a flurry of furious riffing and graceful symphonics. There’s less “paint-by-numbers” songwriting than there was on the debut, and by making things a bit more adventurous and prog-leaning this time around, it helps the case that Kerberos have genuinely improved as a band. The neoclassical elements, like in intro track ‘Praeludium in H Moli’, speak volumes in the band’s newfound sense of identity. The band as a whole seem more confident, having a clear vision of what they want the album to sound like, rather than trying to jam symphonic elements where they shouldn’t be.
‘Alpine Sea’ adds an even larger layer of neoclassical elements. Beginning with thundering drums over recorder and strings, the band brings in their “Kerberos Choir”, conducted by Burkhard himself. Once again, the contrast between Metzger’s far-improved cleans and all-male choir accents makes this band unrecognizable from their debut. It’s not just the vocals that are improved this time around either. Burkhard’s wizardry with a fretless bass is on full display here, heard with the insane, Obscura-esque shredding on ‘Near-Violence Experience’, but he knows when to let the rest of the band speak for themselves. He adds a slight Chuck Schuldiner spin to his performance.
There are a lot of layers on Apostle to the Malevolent, and while I love to see them all on full display, there’s still one major roadblock Kerberos continues to face on their musical journey: the production. The mastering of this record is lacking, though there are improvements from the debut. I’m kind of shocked that this is the same producer behind Virvum’s Illuminance, as that’s one of the few tech-death albums that averts the plastic-y, overproduced sound commonly found in the genre. The drums and guitar are way too thin, and when the band get their dramatics going, they tend to get lost within the busy mix. The guitar tone is muddy, and only tends to clear up when the whole band is present. However, I’ll give credit where credit’s due—the bass is ever-present, and I can hear Burkhard’s noodling most of the time.
Productional quibbles aside, Kerberos‘ improvement on Apostle to the Malevolent is not something I expected on my 2025 bingo card, but it’s certainly a welcome inclusion. Through a contrast in vocal acrobatics and riffage along with a tasteful layering of virtuosic performances, the band has taken several measures to improve their sound. Though the production is still a little rough to the point of detriment and Apostle is too short to really sink into its ideas, Kerberos‘ new direction has me eager to see how they expand on and evolve their new-and-improved sound.
Recommended tracks: Near-Violence Experience, Alpine Sea
You may also like: Sentire
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Kerberos is:
– Felicien Burkard (Guitars, bass, vocals)
– Nicolas Kaser (Drums)
– Ai-lan Metzger (Vocals)
– Diego Lanzendorfer (Guitars)
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