Recognized as one of the most virtuosic guitar wizards today, Mick Barr displays his awe-inspiring six-string histrionics in such bizarre outfits as Ocrilim (Hydra Head) and Orthrelm (Ipecac), bending and stretching the rules of modern-day playing and giving new meaning to progressive guitar-work. Nonetheless, Barr (who has also collaborated with the likes of John Zorn and Mike Patton) is quite the enigma today.  Colin Marston, one of the most prolific and recognized musicians in technical / extreme progressive metal, also boasts an impressive pedigree, having played in Behold... The Arctopus (Black Market/Metal Blade), Dysrhythmia (Relapse), Byla, etc., as well as founded his own recording studio, Thousand Caves (in which he recently recorded the latest Jarboe solo album).  On their self-titled debut, Krallice treads the musical landscape familiar to Barr and Marston, but this time the pair translates it into a visceral, tremolo-layered black metal monolith. Comprised of six epic, time-stretching hymns, the album is a vitriolic and hypnotizing assault on the senses that brings to mind early Burzum, Nattens Madrigal-era Ulver, Gorgoroth (Antichrist in particular), and US legends Weakling. Krallice is Barr and Marston's unique vision--singular in the realm of US black metal today.