It Came From The Void - Tracklisting
From Hell To Horizon
Kelper-452b
Psychosis (In A Vacuum)
Bury The Survivors/Ashes To Ashes
Black Hole Viscera
Succumb To The Void
Members
Mike Verni - Guitar
Isabel Guido: Synth, Saxophone and Vocals
Arthur Erb: Bass
Matt Ryan: Drums and Auxiliary Percussion
Review
It Came From The Void is the debut album from Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metallers King Bastard. This is an album that manages to standout from the crowd with the band's inventive use of soundclips and sonic experimentation with the music being quite jazzy in places. The album is firmly in the realm of Science Fiction with some excellent choices of soundclips from classic movies such as ALIENS.
The album contains six tracks and is progressive from the very start. Jagged guitars and heavy psychedelic spaced out sounds are the main order of play here with King Bastard bringing their own style of Doom Metal that can be quite chilling at times. There is even some seventies inspired Psych/Prog Rock on the first parts of the album.
King Bastard really get into their creative stride when they leave the quieter elements of the record behind and just go full steam ahead with Psychedelic Freak-outs and Sonic/Cosmic based Doom Metal with a heavier Stoner Metal approach.
The first two songs From Hell To Horizon and Kelper-452b may seem your standard Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal song but it doesn't take long for the band to play different styles of music with layers of crazy grooves lurking behind every corner. I wasn't fully on board with the creative choices King Bastard included on this album when I first listened to the record but I was soon won over.
There's not many bands you can compare to King Bastard to. As the "jazzy" progressive feel of the album makes everything sound super-fresh in places. The band call their music "Psychedelic Filth" and a soundtrack to a 70s Space Horror. That's a great description for both the band and the album. This record still retains a cool modern day sound that is mainly down to the epic productions values held within the album.
Other highlights include Psychosis In A Vacuum, Bury The Survivors/Ashes To Ashes and Succumb To The Void with King Bastard fully exploring the Space Horror aspect of their overall sound.
There's also a lot of distorted Drone Metal grooves littered throughout the entire album and it can be quite distracting to hear at times. I think that's the point. To make the listener feel uncomfortable. There are vocals on this record that are mainly growls and chants. These only appear for a short amount of time.
If this album came out in 2021 then it would have easily been a Top 10 AOTY Contender, However, its being released in 2022 and I can happily say that It Came From The Void is the first true great album to own in 2022.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Claire at Purple Sage PR for the promo.
It Came From The Void will be available to buy on CD/DD from January 14th 2022.
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