ALBUM REVIEW: From Whence They Came – King Bastard
New York based sci-fi doom trio KING BASTARD return with their second full-length From Whence They Came. While their debut It Came From The Void took listeners on an epic journey through time and space aboard a doomed intergalactic vessel, with this album they’ve rolled back the clock to the dawn of humanity.
From Whence They Came is a raw and primal exploration of mankind’s evolution, psychic awakening and ultimately, its downfall. These themes unfold across just four tracks which make up the album’s 31-minute runtime. This may seem short, but KING BASTARD cram so much into each expansive song that it’s hard to feel short-changed. Contributing to the album’s thematic coherence is fact that in their day-jobs, KING BASTARD’s members are a palaeontologist, a history teacher and a pharmaceutical engineer. They know their subject matter as well as they do their instruments, and are therefore able to present an encapsulating narrative arc in sonic form.
Opener Knuckle Dragger begins with a hypnotic piece of tribal percussion reminiscent of Roots era SEPULTURA which slowly builds into a cacophony of neanderthal grunts and shrieks. It’s cinematic in scope, conjuring up images of dense jungles and primitive civilisations – it wouldn’t feel out-of-place on the soundtrack to a film in the Kong franchise for example. This eventually gives way to a thundering, downtuned caveman doom riff, the kind perfected by bands like CONAN and PRIMITIVE MAN, while guttural vocals lament the dawn of man, forged in “blood, bone, fire and stone”. Slow, crushing riffs give way to slower, more crushing riffs until in the final minutes of the track, the pace quickens to something more frantic, conjuring images of tribal warfare.
Things take a more relaxed tone on the next track, The Invisible Landscape, as the band explore more psychedelic and introspective soundscapes. The guitars become drenched in delay and feedback, with tasteful lead lines weaving in and out of one other. Crushing doom gives way to more of an instrumental stoner-rock feel, which continues on Astral Psyche, although the levels of fuzz and aggression do ramp up across that track’s eight-minute running time.
These two largely instrumental psych-jams effectively form the album’s centrepiece and although there are no vocals, KING BASTARD still manage to propel the album’s narrative forward thanks to their flair for composition. This is aided with a pair of nicely placed spoken word samples, the kind lifted from old horror films or documentaries. Musically, the passages build and swell gradually before transitioning into moments of calm, quiet and more tribal percussion.
Often when bands of this genre write over-long songs, there is a risk of becoming tedious, however this is a band who knows exactly how to craft a seven minute-plus epic. No riff or rhythmic pattern ever outstays its welcome before a new idea is introduced, whether that be a change of pace, a stomping riff or a deftly placed lead line. And lead lines there are plenty, veering between soulful blues licks to all out shredding when the moment is right.
Bookending the spaced-out instrumental section of From Whence They Came is final track The Dawn Of Man, which re-introduces the opener’s slow, caveman riffs and guttural roars. Thematically, over the previous 15 minutes of instrumental it appears that the primitive culture we met during the album’s opener has evolved into a more advanced yet ultimately destructive civilisation. Towards the track’s mid-point the harrowing brutality is injected with steroids as the guitars and drums lock into a pulsating, even bouncy motif that’s sure to cause unholy havoc when played live. Finally, layers of saturated tremolo picked guitars build to the album’s final, soaring crescendo, which sees the band bring post-metal shades of BOSSK and CULT OF LUNA into the mix, bringing the narrative to a thrilling conclusion.
Producer Colin Marston of GORGUTS fame has done a fantastic job of bringing the band’s vision to life, especially when it comes to the guitars. The whole thing sounds massive, and while there is a density to the way multiple layers of guitars, bass and sound effects have been layered, the drums are mixed in a way that provides the songs with a much needed sense of space, so it never becomes too overbearing.
This is an enthralling and immersive piece of work that is best served whole in one sitting, and subsequently revisited multiple times. Crushingly heavy yet melodic and progressive – a kind of ‘thinking man’s caveman doom’ if you will.
Rating: 8/10
From Whence They Came is set for release on June 21st via self-release.
Like KING BASTARD on Facebook.