Following the full-length release in 2023 titled “Titan Hammer,” American Black/ Metal band KOMMANDANT are back with a new EP.  At the time of the full-length, Bandcamp had this to say: “We are currently existing within a dark epoch. The band took their first steps into the Black Metal playground while the western world was retreating into a deep slumber. We can now either decide to face reality; a call to arms, or remain in such a state of impotence. KOMMANDMENT brings forth the inferno; an enlightenment and awareness that is both clandestine, and apparent simultaneously. Ancient phantograms, echoing both the struggle of the past and the actuality of the present, make their fog of war pervasive to all the stagnant relics that hinder advancement.”

The new EP has five songs. “Reborn into Violence” is first. It is aggressive, and moves quickly, and the blast beat drumming is augmented with harsh vocals that echo. The riff is fairly simple, but it does an effective job getting across the band’s contentious sound. “Arsenal” has a similar, aggressive sound, and those opening bass and drum strikes are powerful. A few minutes in, and a marching sound commences with clean vocals…it’s a jovial diversion to the earlier sound. “Zweikampf” has another similar sound, and at this point in the five track EP, it has become known that this is the sound that the band is pushing, and without much in the way of variation.

“The Standard” has a slower and steadier sound, with meaty bass guitar notes at first, but the blast beat drums soon take over, and the song descends into madness. The title track closes the album, and it has another similar sound. Black Metal is one genre that is boldly expansive, if bands take advantage of the loose genre boundaries. Unfortunately, KOMMANDANT didn’t take an real risks with their sound. They aren’t bad musicians by any stretch, but they do need to risk a little more in order to separate themselves from thousands of other like bands.