Saturday 13 February 2016

King Goblin - Cryptozoology (Album Review)


Release date: February 05th 2016. Label: Bonten Records. Format: CD/DD

Cryptozoology – Tracklisting

1. Return To The Planet (Performed by Kelly Churko and Hiroshi Hasegawa from Astro)
2. King Of The Flies
3. Prophet
4. 2020
5. Garadama
6. Birmingham Queen (cover of Mountain’s "Mississippi Queen")
7. Pilgrim

Band Members:

Naoto "ARAKING" Araki : Vocal, Drums
Marcy : Guitar
Hidetoshi "emara3" Ehara : Bass, Vocal

Review:

Having initially started out as a grind/death band, Tokyo's King Goblin started to incorporate different influences on their self titled debut album and do more of the same to a greater degree on their brilliant new album Crypytozoology. From warped psychedelic wig outs to full on Brutal Truth or Repulsion style grind and warped surf guitar to out there progressive passages and death n roll blasts, it's all mixed up and churned out in the bands own unique style and has to be heard to be believed.

Crushing doom riffs collide with blast-beats and deathly growled vocals one minute but before you get used to this a classic stoner guitar riff rings out, totally taking you by surprise and if ever there was an album for the phrase "expect the unexpected" it's this one. The one thing that is to be expected is that the musicianship throughout the album is outstanding as is the heaviness that crashes through the album.

Highlights on Cryptozoology are plentiful, including the utterly insane opening track Return To The Planet, the Swansong era Carcass groove of Garadama (complete with Jeff Walker style growls), a song complete with some utter guitar craziness unleashed throughout the song, the epic and massively heavy Prophet, a song that reminded me of The Melvins from the get go, the mid paced and creeping grind of 2020 that sounds like Entombed jamming with King Crimson and Mastodon for part of the song but halfway through morphs into a gargatuan wall of riff led noise and a cover of Mountains Mississippi Queen that is retitled Birmingham Queen and is a faithful recreation but with the added bonus of some King Goblin twists and turns in there.

There has been a nine year wait from when the band released their debut album but it has been worth the wait and if you want a fix of some out there and forward thinking heavy music that doesn't stick to any formal musical conventions then you shouldn't delay in seeking out Cryptozoology, you won't regret it as this is a band doing exactly what they want to do. Music this unhinged doesn't come along that often and should be wholeheartedly embraced.

Words by Gavin Brown

Thanks to Takamasa at Bonten Records for the promo.

Links: