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| KING - SUFFERANCE OBSOLESCENT CD |
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| Tracklisting:
1.Intro 2.Shattering Metaphysical Revelations 3.Weary Funeral Eyes 4.Lobotomy Cult 5.Sufferance Obsolescent 6.Halls Of The Blind 7.Pillars Of Grey and Being 8.Anvil Of The Obscurant 9.Eden Ablaze |
| NHR is proud to announce the release of King's debut CD "Sufferance Obsolescent", filled with some of the most atmospheric, miserable and bitter Dark Black Metal to be heard from Canada in some time. Armed with a solidly grim production and an impressive array of material, the quality of this release will stand as one of the best debut CDs of the Northern Black Metal scene. For fans of Lifelover, Burzum, and the depressive side of the Black Metal realm. WEB: www.myspace.com/kingblackmetal |
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| REVIEWS |
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| Review by K.N. Ahh, So here we go, King is a band that I really never heard much of to be honest. Sure I had beers with some of the members at "The Office" a few times prior to this release but I hadn't heard much of their actual material. I heard something on their MySpace at some point I'm sure but nothing that stuck in my mind but I guess I had expectations in mind as to what they'd sound like (straight-up Black Metal) based on their name and some of the imagery I'd seen on their website and from the cover art of this release. Well throw that out the window as this falls into the don't judge a book by it's cover mantra. What we have here is just over a half hour of some very interesting and different Black (or Dark?) Metal. Throughout it's 9 tracks a strong Black Metal presence can easily be detected through the swirling Burzum-esque guitar passages and the harsh croak of the vocals but when they tone down the BM assault and let the keyboards paint the melodic picture some very interesting things happen. On "Lobotomy Cult" (my personal favorite track) there is an overall sense of subdued dread amongst the almost shoegazer-BM that is occouring. Think of Lifelover's work on Pulver but notch up the BM factor a bit. When they explore this type of melancholia on the CD (very often) they are definitely at their best. I am generally a pure hater of all that is keyboard in Black Metal but the keys here are done very well and in way that accentuates the rhythm guitars without dominating the proceedings with typical BM pomposity. Bottom line: This is an untraditional BM release that offers some interesting twists and a few surprises along it's 30+ minute course. Definitely for those who enjoy the finer depressive qualities of Lifelover but just wish they were more Black Metal than Shoegazer. Count me as a believer. A solid 8.5 out of 10 and in near constant Ipod rotation. WEB: HERE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Having previously released two demos since their formation in 2006, Canadian black metal band King has now released their debut full length. Entitled Sufferance Obsolescent and released on the relatively new NHR Records, King’s newest release offers close to half an hour of melodic Burzum style black metal. And while there is still plenty of room for improvement and development, fans of this branch of the genre will find that this act has some interesting ideas. As with other bands in their genre, King is often focused on creating melodic and atmospheric passages rather than just offering blast beat after blast beat. And this definitely works to their advantage, as songs such as “Sufferance Obsolescent” have slower, almost doom tempo passages that are both melodic and grim. The instrumentalists do throw in a few faster segments from time to time, but as a whole their music is often much slower than traditional black metal. However, the main problem at this point in time is that some of King’s songs are too short. The mellower passages are great, but it sometimes feels as though some of these hash grooves and riffs end before they are fully realized. This is an issue that will need to be addressed, but is acceptable for a band as new as this one. The group’s vocalist has an extremely harsh style that definitely enhances the instrumentals. His style is very raw and raspy, and sounds genuinely evil at times. And though his pitch usually stays at a lower octave, they don’t become repetitive throughout the course of Sufferance Obsolescent. However, on a few of the tracks it sounds as though the vocals have been mixed under the instrumentals which can make them a little hard to hear. This is a bit disappointing, as putting King’s vocalist at the front of the sound would definitely enhance the creepiness and grim factor. But overall, the screaming should be strong enough to attract many black metal fans. Sufferance Obsolescent isn’t a mandatory listen, but it’s a solid start from a band that is more experimental than traditional. King has some very good ideas, but some longer song lengths could definitely help the riffs and atmospherics become even further developed. This is a band that is worth keeping an eye on though, because if they can take the addictive riffs and doom like grooves to the next level than they will certainly be one of the better acts to come out of the Canadian black metal scene. Chris Dahlberg cosmosgaming.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't know if it's the band's name or something, but I was not really enthusiastic about working on this CD. To my greatest surprise, Sufferance Obsolescent turned to be a pretty good release actually. The interesting fact about this new Canadian act is that this is their debut album, a promise of more darkness to follow in a near future, hopefully. With its short (3-4 minutes) compositions, King won't bore anyone with useless stretches and the likes. The demo-ish rawer production is not too repulsive either, since King doesn't stick to the furious/blasting beat on a constant basis. I always enjoy a mid-paced beat in Black Metal, and those boys can use it in a very pleasant way. In fact, two of the best tracks on this release don't even have any fast type of movement. The instrumental, title track, is one of them. It contains great distorted/echoing arpeggios, just as enjoyable as the ones to be witnessed on this other excellent composition, "Weary Funeral Eyes". That last one really came in as a nice surprise, not only for the above mentioned arpeggios, but also for its atmosphere that I would describe as: melo-depressive darkness. I've heard this type of beauty in Black Metal before, mostly from Italian acts though. This particular song is where I would have wished for a longer time duration, allowing the venomous dose of somberness a deeper infiltration. On Sufferance Obsolescent, some keyboards were used to create an added touch of ambience, all done with good taste. Over all, Sufferance Obsolescent came out as a pleasant somber surprise. 4/5 Pagan Shadow metalcrypt.com |
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