Full Album Stream: Kalopsia – ‘Angelplague’

New Jersey death metal horde Kalopsia have readied their third album, Angelplague, for release on Philadelphia label Horror Pain Gore Death Productions on May 19. Self-described by the band as the album they’ve desired to make for the entirety of their career, you can stream the whole record exclusively through Decibel now. 

The New Jersey band swings for the fences on Angelplague, using massive-sounding hooks and riffs combined with crushing breakdowns and an unrelenting rhythm section.

“For me, Angelplague is the quintessential Kalopsia record,” guitarist/vocalist Matt Medeiros says. “All the pieces finally came together. It’s got those sick, aggressive high velocity blasts, grinds and thrashes. The moshes are huge (or is it now officially ‘yuge?’). There’s hearty mid tempo chugs. The solos rip. There’s some great melodic hooks. The performances are sharp and tight. Since day one I’ve been refining this idea of combining brutality and melody while giving the album a consistent identity and feel. I feel like we really nailed it this time. It feels like a culmination of years and years of listening to and creating music.”

The conditions that inspired a record often have a large role in the sound of the resulting album. In the case of Angelplague, Medeiros experienced loss that inspired Kalopsia’s writing process. 

“This record came at a pretty hard time in my life,” Mederios tells Decibel.  “I lost some close family members. That lead to aftershocks through my personal life, and a lot of reflection. Music remained a solace and a catharsis. It really deepened my gratitude for the people in my life, especially my musical co-conspirators. Coincidentally I create within a genre that doesn’t shy away from the morbid, so I could really deal with a lot of this stuff very directly.”

Angelplague hits the streets on May 19 via Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. Preorder it digitally or on CD