Release Date: June 08th 2022. Record Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD
Origins - Tracklisting
1.Clown 04:43
2....And the Dead Shall Rise 07:01
3.A Cold Wind 08:19
4.Hell to Pay 05:03
5.Dark Side of the Sun 08:49
6.Mohenjo Daro 05:47
7.Demon Beast 04:23
8.Drowned 04:52
9.Sky King 06:13
Members
Billy Fridrich – lead and rhythm guitars, lead vocals
Jonathan Lesley Habers – bass, vocals (lead vocals on Hell to Pay and Demon Beast)
Dan Lofaro – drums
Review
Origin is the second album from Psych Stoner Metallers Indus Valley Kings and the band explore musical areas such as Doom Metal, Fuzz, Blues Rock, Desert Rock and Grunge to allow this album to have a meatier sound compared to their debut album. The album is heavy and intense from the start with opening song Clown having a powerful guitar tone and thunderous heavy bass allowing Indus Valley Kings to take influence from bands across the Hard Rock Musical Spectrum.
Clown becomes more grunge based towards the latter stages and I could easily detect an Alice In Chains influence with some of the guitar playing and lyrical content. The song shows how the band are quite adept moving from the classic seventies based Hard Rock sound to the more modern Psych Stoner Metal flavours that enrich this song so well. Don’t forget the killer vocals from Billy having a “showman” quality to them.
Second song …And The Dead Shall Rise is another delicious slice of FUZZ ROCK attitude with the Doom based atmosphere allowing Indus Valley Kings to play more top-heavy bass grooves with a thumping WEEDIAN guitar sound being quite “punchy” in the volume department. It seems the band take the Classic Power Trio structure and add distorted levels of Stoner based Grooves for a richer and fuller sound. The music is quite raw and abstract in places but this allows Indus Valley Kings to throw caution to the wind and deliver some intense Stoner/Desert Rock vibes that end up being one of the heaviest parts of the album.
There’s a lot to fully take in with this album. As the band have written some truly captivating lyrics that make you think in certain places. The music is highly original throughout with Indus Valley Kings not playing by the standard Stoner Rock/Metal Rule Book. The album could be considered experimental with the band taking a diverse and creative approach with the many different genres of music that’s included on this album.
The one area you can’t complain about is the riffs. As the album is jam-packed with epic riffs from different areas of the Hard Rock/Metal scene. With this album having a Blues Rock soul, the band do veer into “Jazz Rock” on certain stages of the album.
Other great tracks to check out are: A Cold Wind, Dark Side Of The Sun, Drowned and Sky King.
The production can be extremely loud and too forceful at times but that could be my advancing years showing. However, the album does sound superb especially on the second half of the album. Origins is a wonderfully different album and it’s good to have an “EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED” attitude with this record.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
Links
Official | Facebook | BandCamp
