KARLA KVLT: The Obelisk Premieres “Swallowed” Video By German Ethereal Sludge Metal/Post-Rock Trio; Debut LP, Thunderhunter, Nears February 21st Release Through Exile On Mainstream Records

photos by Aylin Sengül

“…the place they’re coming from is KARLA KVLT’s own, and that if Thunderhunter is the beginning of a new journey this apparent family band are undertaking, they set out in noteworthy and forward-thinking fashion.” – The Obelisk

Underground rock portal The Obelisk presents a visualizer for “Swallowed,” the new single from new German sludge metal/post-rock trio KARLA KVLT. The song is found on the band’s impending debut LP, Thunderhunter, nearing release this month through Exile On Mainstream Records.

KARLA KVLT marks the return of Markus E. Lipka, the driving guitar force behind 1990s German alternative/noise rock heroes Eisenvater, here joined by his son Johann Wientjes on drums and his daughter-in-law, Teresa Matilda Curtens, on bass and vocals – both also in Melting Palms. Together, the trio delivers a raw and monolithic debut album that is unique in style and approach with Thunderhunter.

The beats and riffs on Thunderhunter are unfathomably heavy, the vocals bell-like, fragile, and intense. KARLA KVLT’s music is dense, immersive, but also beautiful – like a plant fighting its way through a concrete slab, like the tides, following a precise and unstoppable rhythm that can be as destructive as it is capable of revealing beauty in the next moment, offering a view of something new. Based on drone, doom, sludge, noise, and post-rock, the band creates monolithic and hypnotic tracks on Thunderhunter, which was recorded in a strictly D.I.Y. manner in Hamburg. Here, the band infuses seemingly incompatible styles of sludge/doom and dream pop; Both concepts come together within KARLA KVLT in an amalgamation of brutal beauty.

The band reveals with the new song, “With ‘Swallowed,’ you come imminently closer to a state of complete self-dissolution. The ominous sound design of the intro immediately evokes the feeling of being trapped in the belly of a nameless beast, rendered helpless at its mercy. Vocals and bass come more to the fore here and reinforce the mysterious and trance-like atmosphere. ‘Swallowed’ is an infernal dance that celebrates utter madness.”

Alongside their premiere of the track, The Obelisk writes in part, “…the place they’re coming from is KARLA KVLT’s own, and that if Thunderhunter is the beginning of a new journey this apparent family band are undertaking, they set out in noteworthy and forward-thinking fashion. One looks forward to hopefully learning the places to which their sound might ultimately go, but what you need to know going into ‘Swallowed’ is don’t get distracted and keep your mind open… in my head it’s such a given that anything on Exile On Mainstream is at least going to be awesome in concept if not execution that Karla Kvlt as a new band are already a no-brainer in my head. That the band actually turn out to kill it across the record feels like a bonus.”

Watch KARLA KVLT’s “Swallowed” visualizer first at The Obelisk RIGHT HERE.

Thunderhunter will be released on LP w/ bundled CD and digitally on February 21st. Preorders are live at the Exile On Mainstream webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE, and digital presaves can be found HERE. Also watch the video for “Karma” HERE.

KARLA KVLT is currently booking live ventures across Europe for the Spring and Summer months, having booked a Thunderhunter release show in Hamburg April 25th and a gig with labelmates Caspar Brötzmann Massaker in June. Additional live updates will follow shortly.

KARLA KVLT Live:
4/25/2025 Elbdeichstudio – Hamburg, DE *record release show
6/07/2025 Z-Bau – Nürnberg, DE w/ Caspar Brötzmann Massaker

The alternative music scene in the 1990s vibrantly questioned traditional listening approaches and came up with some of the most interesting concepts in that sense. While it was bands like Melvins, Unsane, Swans, and Cop Shoot Cop on the US side of the pond, on the European side, one of the bands was Eisenvater, and the guitar-based orchestra Rossburger Report that evolved from it. Eisenvater’s live shows remain legendary, transcending gatherings, which among lovers of the extremes have a cult status and are of the kind that everybody claims to have been there.

Music is always also the search for transcendence. It transports emotions, captures them, and mediates between the comprehensible and what lies beyond. This can especially happen in collective musical experiences like concerts or rituals. Music can help the artist themselves in shaping their identity and resolving or addressing inner conflict. Here, it is about the transcendence and transformation of the ego – ultimately, the prerequisite for art, especially when it is collectively created. This is the beginning of an exploration of KARLA KVLT – both musically and thematically. For the band, founded in 2023, this is the foundation: the radical dissolution of the ego. Art does not emerge according to a precise plan. It arises when one lets go – of thoughts, expectations, ideas, and even personal desires. As long as the mind is involved, the ego blocks the possibility of a collective experience. This letting-go, this intuitive approach, is what defines the music of KARLA KVLT. Thunderhunter is the invitation to become part of it, and Exile On Mainstream is overjoyed to release the debut album of this new band.

https://www.instagram.com/karlakvlt
https://karlakvlt.bandcamp.com
https://www.mainstreamrecords.de
https://www.youtube.com/@exileonmainstream3639

The post KARLA KVLT: The Obelisk Premieres “Swallowed” Video By German Ethereal Sludge Metal/Post-Rock Trio; Debut LP, Thunderhunter, Nears February 21st Release Through Exile On Mainstream Records first appeared on Earsplit Compound.