King of None - Weightless Waters (2019)
Popping up with their third EP since
debuting in 2015 with their self-titled one, the Finnish group King
of None make their run this time with six tracks of psych-washed hard
rock. Kicking off with “Words of Mine”, they brandish a solid
noodly guitar groove that slips right into rougher tones, and while
the yelling is kind of quiet in the mix, it still comes off as some
of the rowdiest material in the line-up, and makes for a very
enticing lead into the rest of the music.
“Worlds Collide” turns up the
psychedelic influence as a contrast, but brings the hard rock right
back up in force as soon as a bridge leads to that territory, and it
stays in that flavor for most of its go. With a very solid stretch
of shredding, the band gets blood pumping hard in the lead-up to the
next track, the intriguingly-titled “Frog Palace”. Here, things
slow back down for a heavy cruiser that makes for a fun midpoint to
the EP (though where the frogs come in is still a mystery to me).
With the slow-grooving “Desolator”,
the band provides a strong demonstration of their skill at weaving
appreciable heaviness into hooky melodies, and their willingness to
explore tangents when the path of the song becomes more interesting
than just rolling along with the grooves. It shows a band that knows
the appeal of bassy fuzz, but also wants to savor more nuanced
song-writing. “Starbirling” follows after that, and as the band
dives more fully into the retro hard rock vibes, there's a sense of
them loosening up even more, making the riffs feel even more animated
and energized. That easy-going cool sticks around pretty reliably
from there, with final tune “Yellow Snake King” bringing in some
more desert rock flavor, as the name somewhat suggests. At just over
seven minutes, it's also the longest track on the EP, and the band
makes use of that expanded space to really chew on the riffs,
stretching them out into delightfully free-rolling head-banging
inducements. Plenty to enjoy here, so check it out if you've been
craving some heavy rock with substance to it.
~ Gabriel
For Fans Of; Farflung, Fatso Jetson,
Frozen Planet.... 1969, Fuzz Evil, Stone Machine Electric
~
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