Music Reviews

Let me just preface this by acknowledging the fact the I am a little biased towards these guys – after all they are THE band that defined my childhood. Still, even with all that in mind, this new album of theirs is pretty darn solid if I do say so myself, almost to the point where I wouldn’t mind calling it an instant classic.

You can hear that right off the back with the opener as well as the title track „EL PRESIDENTO“. The signature Kabát sound is there immidiately with a few electronics thrown in there that are actually really subtle and blend in very nicely and also make together with the rest of the song for one hell of an opener. The track absolutely kicks ass and wastes no time in doing so. Right after that comes the big hit „RUMCAJS MILOVAL MANKU“ and sweet mother of god this track absolutely solos. The chorus on this thing makes me want to just drunkenly moshpit with a bunch of sweathy 40 year olds – so basically everything a Kabát song should be. The solo before the last chorus is also a nice touch, honestly with most of these songs my biggest complaint is I wish they were just longer. Anyways after that comes „KAZAČOK“ whitch is another trademark Kabát song, this one especially sounds like something they would have done early on, the nostalgia is almost overwhelming. The weird voice interpolations fit right in with the rest of the song and overall make for another banger. „OPILEJ KLAVÍR“ is perhaps the first song I’m not super crazy about, it’s just a decently well made slower song. Nor the chorus nor the riff are all that memorable compared to some of the other songs here, the song just sort of exists, it’s fine. „ZATOULANEJ JAPONEC“ picks things up immidiately though, the riff is super energetic and just screams fun. The whole song is like a wave of positive energy and the lyrics are super goofy – also the really short country-esk switch-up that happens towards the end of the song is a really nice touch, it comes completely out of nowhere but works surprisingly well, I just wish it was longer. „TESTOSTERON“ I think just takes too long to actually get started and by then the song is basically just over and it feels very ammateurish when compared to other songs here, even though there are parts of it I enjoy. „ZA ZTRACENÝ NÁMOŘNÍKY“ is one of my absolute favorites from this album – both the riff and the similar orchestration that kick the song off are super catchy and creative and almost have a Nightwish feel to them. I also like the little segment that happens after the chorus, the guitars absolutely steal the show here. The solo is short-lived but welcomed regardless, overall this song is an easy highlight. „TŘI SOBY“ has one of my favorite choruses on this album and also has some really fun riffs and the solo is also one of the better ones (mostly because it lasts longer than just 5 seconds), I’m kind of running out of things to say about these songs, just know that this one is definetly one of the better ones on here. „TROLL“ is a song I was really excited to hear (yes, it’s just cause the name) and I gotta say this one really did deliver. I really like the way the drums are mixed on this one, they are super crisp and punchy, also the electronics are tastefully incorporated as well, this one’s not bad as well. „SLADKÝ TÓNY“ has a really nice sentiment and a really sweet melody to back that up, but again, I just kinda don’t have much else to say about it, I like it. „ZÁTKY“ is perhaps th most adventerous and experimental song on here – the jazzy elements really make this one of the best songs on this whole album, the trumpets and western-esk pianos are an awesome addition to the song that really bring it to new heights. It’s also just super fun and you can just hear through the music that they had a ton of fun with it too. However I did maybe speak too soon with the experimentation, because the next song „NESMRTELNÁ TETA“ has like almost a Death Grips type opening which is a comparison I never thought I would ever make – this gets brought back a couple of times throughout the song but I wish they did a bit more with it to be honest, the industrial sound works surprisingly well with Kabát. There is also this bizzare almost spoken word breakdown at the end that also just comes and goes – overall I appriciate the risks this song takes but I really wish they would have maybe build more on some of these ideas, because they have amazing potential. Anyways the closer „ONI“ is just your typical melodramatic trying to pluck at your heart strings type song which is a little disapointing I have to say, not that this format in general is bad at all, but Kabát don’t really bring their own spin on it in any sort of way – it’s an okay closer either way.

So yes, this new Kabát album actually kinda delivered – like there are some of their best songs period on this album and they sound like they really enjoyed making this album, which is what’s most important, especially when most of these songs sound this good.

-favorite tracks: EL PRESIDENTO, RUMCAJS MILOVAL MANKU, KAZAČOK, ZATOULANEJ JAPONEC, ZA ZTRACENÝ NÁMOŘNÍKY, TROLL, SLADKÝ TÓNY, ZÁTKY, parts of NESMRTELNÁ TETA

-least favorite tracks: ONI, OPILEJ KLAVÍR

Strong 7/10