Korum is a French band from Paris, founded in 1999 by Boban (drums) and Kris (bass). These two were long time members of the Parisian hardcore scene and formed Korum to experiment with a combination of hardcore and technical death metal. A mix between hardcore and metal has been done before of course (just look at the big metal core scene), but Korum’s approach is quite unique.

The foundation is a heavy combination of hardcore rhythms and technical death metal but there are also influences to be heard from black metal and even jazz/fusion. Normally I get a bit nervous listening to jazzy technical metal but Korum manage to keep a sharp edge and sound very aggressive. Vocalist Kriss contributes to this atmosphere a great deal by grunting and screaming with the determination of a pit-bull who wants a taste of your leg.

He just keeps on grunting at an unbelievable speed and varies with his voice excellently.

Parisian label Sekhmet Records is founded with the idea to release high level technical death metal, and with this release (and the recently released album of Gory Blister) they succeed in an impressive way.

Early 2004 Boban (drums) and Niko (guitar) left the band and have been replaced with a new drummer (Tarik Zulficar form Symbiosis) and two guitar players. Let’s hope they can maintain the quality of Korum or maybe even increase it.