Kaptain Kollnot - Future Human

Kaptain Kollnot

Future Human
​self-released; 2022

By Matt Jensen

Kaptain Kollnot is the solo project of Jeff Kollnot. He has been playing in bands for the last twenty-five years. He is known for playing guitar in the power thrash outfit Blackgate and the progressive band, Flood the Desert. More recently he released Future Human which is influenced by power, thrash, death and progressive metal.

“Black Star Alliance” is the opener and also an instrumental song. It’s a very intense introduction. The guitar work was impressive. Although the drums sounded programmed and almost comically fast at points in the song that worked as well. The song is more or less an onslaught of high energy prog and metal riffs. It’s almost seven-minutes long and certainly displayed talent from Kollnot in multiple ways. That being said the guitar work was where it was at and was what the song revolved around.

“Demon of Retribution” has a very ’80s sounding intro with Van Halen like lead before all the instruments lock in. On this song there are vocals and they sounded just like I expected them to. Kollnot sings with the affectation metal have been using since the ’80s and it works well with the song. The bass drum programming was a little too much for me at points on this song and I felt it was taking too much of my attention. Towards the middle of the song Kollnot goes into full villain mode where he sounds like some demon which again has been popular for this genre.

“Exodus From Orion” is almost eleven minutes long. It begins with military-like snare work which I thought sounded cool. There’s some phaser effect on the guitar. The song locks in and there’s some great guitar work. There are vocals on this song and he sounds like a metal guy from the ’80s. A bit pissed yet confident. Topically these songs also fit with a lot of metal songs especially from the '80s and ’90s. Lyrics like “For millennia you've seen us in the sky's / We live in the earth / and from oceans we rise / We are Millenia ahead of your kind / We’ve come from Orion / So our species can thrive” hit the mark. It’s an epic song. The guitar work was again the high point for me but I thought the song structure was well done and I loved the dynamics as well.

I was expecting a more metal version of “Starman” which is a cover from David Bowie. It ends up sounding pretty close to the original version. I loved the original and this was a great cover. It felt like a unique way to end the EP.

​Kollnot is an impressive musician. His technical ability is undeniable but it’s the creative ways he makes the music emotionally appealing which is what makes it come full circle. Recommended.

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