doom
Zog I, King of the Albanians was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. During his reign he reputedly survived more than 55 assassination attempts. He died in exile in France in 1961. You can find the entire story on Wikipedia, because it's fun to learn something once in awhile.
Personally, I'd like to talk about another King Zog, a doom metal band from Perth, Western Australia. King Zog is the dream project of lifelong friends, now writing partners, Daniel Durack (vocals/guitar) and Vince Radice (lead guitar). To complete the band, they recruited the rhythm section of Martin Gonzalez (bass) and Rory Keys (drums).
According to their facebook profile, they're mostly interested in "Extreme volume and monolithic riffage", which obviously drags this band into the much beloved doom metal scene. They also mention that their biggest influences are Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard and Sleep, and yep, that's pretty much what King Zog sounds like. There are the thick, fuzzed out riffs, the heavy metal vocals and the impending drums.
Yet, what strikes me most on his album, is the fact that it sounds quite old, as if it came from the early days of the doom metal genre. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. On one hand you have excellent old school doom songs but on the other hand, you've probably heard this stuff before. I mean, you can easily put this debut in between debuts from bands like Cathedral, Pentagram and Goatsnake and you won't know the difference.
So, in that aspect King Zog seems to balance on the edge between timelessness and being outdated. I guess that depends on the way you look at it. Nonetheless, songs like 'Lost At Sea', 'Hexagram' and 'Temple's Temple' are highly immersive doom metal tunes, some of which coming with great sing-along refrains. The latter is my favorite, it's also the longest song on this album, clocking off at 6.15.
In all, these songs fit perfectly in today's doom metal scene, certainly if you realize that bands like Kadavar, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats and Duel also bring back the glorious seventies sounds. So yeah, I can only recommend this album to you if you're a fan of any of the aforementioned bands. Doom comes in all forms today so it's a good thing that a bands like King Zog remind us of the vintage sound of the whole thing.
Serge
Personally, I'd like to talk about another King Zog, a doom metal band from Perth, Western Australia. King Zog is the dream project of lifelong friends, now writing partners, Daniel Durack (vocals/guitar) and Vince Radice (lead guitar). To complete the band, they recruited the rhythm section of Martin Gonzalez (bass) and Rory Keys (drums).
According to their facebook profile, they're mostly interested in "Extreme volume and monolithic riffage", which obviously drags this band into the much beloved doom metal scene. They also mention that their biggest influences are Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard and Sleep, and yep, that's pretty much what King Zog sounds like. There are the thick, fuzzed out riffs, the heavy metal vocals and the impending drums.
Yet, what strikes me most on his album, is the fact that it sounds quite old, as if it came from the early days of the doom metal genre. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. On one hand you have excellent old school doom songs but on the other hand, you've probably heard this stuff before. I mean, you can easily put this debut in between debuts from bands like Cathedral, Pentagram and Goatsnake and you won't know the difference.
So, in that aspect King Zog seems to balance on the edge between timelessness and being outdated. I guess that depends on the way you look at it. Nonetheless, songs like 'Lost At Sea', 'Hexagram' and 'Temple's Temple' are highly immersive doom metal tunes, some of which coming with great sing-along refrains. The latter is my favorite, it's also the longest song on this album, clocking off at 6.15.
In all, these songs fit perfectly in today's doom metal scene, certainly if you realize that bands like Kadavar, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats and Duel also bring back the glorious seventies sounds. So yeah, I can only recommend this album to you if you're a fan of any of the aforementioned bands. Doom comes in all forms today so it's a good thing that a bands like King Zog remind us of the vintage sound of the whole thing.
Serge
