King Bastard – It Came From the Void
Release Date: 14th January 2022
Label: Self Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Doom Metal, Stoner Rock, Garage, Psychedelic, Sludge Metal.
FFO: Electric Wizard, Coffin Torture, Acid Bath, Sleep, Black Sabbath, Crow, Uncle Acid, Pentagram.
Review By: Jay Creepy
Psychedelic doom metal? This is something of undiscovered lands for me. Ahhhhh but I do love the classic psychedelic sound and I also have a powerful fondness for doom, so New York City dwellers, King Bastard could be a bizarre wet dream for my ears.
The moment I heard the steady sonic build up of noise that begins flashes of images in your subconscious mind of track one, the instrumental, From Hell to Horizon, then they had me totally hooked. The slugging heavy as a really heavy thing drums with doom tuned guitars dragged me into the thick deep dark waters, it was already a good way to drown.
Okay, so let me clarify the psychedelic tripping style here, Mike Verni uses wah-wah guitar, and the drums laid back rolls (Matt Ryan take a bow) are taken directly from the tunes you’d maybe heard whilst strolling Times Square and 42nd Street checking out hookers and movies back in the 70s. This is amazing!!! To the point, It Came From the Void sounds authentic, not a tongue in cheek pretending just to be edgy or cool and certainly not a parody, this could be a rare LP found in a dusty old record store!
Number two, Kepler 452b feels like a terrifying more nasty version of Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, it’s hard to truly allow words to bring the reality of this to you, this is far beyond Black Sabbath riffs, this is Demon Fuzz reborn (one of my fave bands of the 70s) Layer upon layer of guitar FX breaking down with synthy noises by Izzy Guido (who also supplies a slight scattering of vocal duties here and there) makes a slow motion galloping beast of a movie soundtrack – a film you imagine being filled with blood and semen. Saxophone kicks in midway, again there is so much going on that like any gem of an album, it will take more than one listen to fully absorb the ingredients. For instance, can you imagine Pink Floyd jamming out with Electric Wizard? No? Listen to Bury the Survivors/Ashes to Ashes with your eyes closed, drift and use your imagination. Actually, with so many FX hitting you, there could be nightmarish bad acid trips or good ones depending on what King Bastard choose. 3 minutes 30 seconds in, the switching transitions are remarkable, I almost cried. Tranquillity, the building of a new art form.
King Bastard are on a level alone, on a shelf surrounded by dirty items. They are students of the art and have crafted what I consider a classic. Their music will make some feel filthy and violated, but to others they will feel cleansed by the centrally instrumental album. Who needs words when sounds can say much, much more by catching real storytelling music in a bottle?
Psychosis (in a Vacuum) has a marvelous video (see below) and ranks as the point on this collective of wonders that the game changes in the style. Breathtaking, absorbing you like The Blob.
As their name reveals, they are the illegitimate sons of the rulers who are coming to take what should be theirs. I leave this début as a shell shocked fan, they are indeed new to this world, like Doodswens who I reviewed recently, so will deliver so much more to their followers. The future looks deranged. I found a picture of the group, their t-shirts reveal so much – Electric Wizard, Sleep (you got me already) and…. and.… The Texas Chainsaw Massacre! (one bloke appears to be a hybrid of wrestlers Bobby Fish and Kyle O’ Reilly, but I am getting distracted)
Recorded in a studio, a garage, also a basement and closet, King Bastard are totally uncontrollable and vile, they can only get bigger, they deserve to amass an army. For those beholden to the 70s in music form and movie, King Bastard, as I said have done the impossible in these times of over saturation, they have presented a classic for their début album. I hope that they do not rush a second one, it will take many years for the fallout of It Came From the Void to clear our skies and cities.
A perfect being that has come to violate and thrill you.
(5 / 5)
Which one of us looks like the hybrid Bobby Fish? Most important part of the review.