EP REVIEW: Under The Black Rainbow – King 810
KING 810 don’t care about your opinion, but they sure go out of their way to make sure you have one about them. From run-ins with the law to frontman David Gunn being spotted at the January 6 insurrection (he claimed to be filming a music video), their energy mimics the socially and politically volatile world we live in. With Under The Black Rainbow, an adventurous entry in their powder keg canon, they try on different outfits from across the nu-metal spectrum, sometimes radio-friendly, sometimes bonkers, but always with the raw honesty that has become their USP.
A multimedia experience, the EP accompanies a series of YouTube videos about the band coming across an ‘enchanted instrument’. Heavy on philosophical narration, fans have been receptive to the short films, with one commenter saying it ought to be adapted for Netflix. Being the provocateurs that they are, the videos rely on AI to manifest a shamanistic old man, which Gunn acknowledged in an interview would raise some eyebrows.
While not necessary to enjoy the record, the series goes some way to explaining Under The Black Rainbow’s diversity. At its craziest, Boogie With The Boogie Man has a sinister carnival energy, punctuated with an industrial stomp and Jonathan Davis-like snarls. It sounds dipped in the language of horror cinema, like Pennywise the Clown dropping the hottest mixtape.
But then there’s the reflective Glow, acoustic and twinkling, a love song about disappearing into a world that never paid any attention anyway. It suitably balances the optimism of romance alongside the grittier reality of day-to-day disappointments. “We were never stars, we don’t glow,” sings Gunn, but then, “I’ll find you in any lifetime that we live.” In spirit, if not in sound, it updates the message of GREEN DAY’s American Idiot, of lost souls among the margins just trying to make something of themselves and each other.
Closer Bigger Than The Stones keeps this up, mourning unrealised dreams and friends lost along the way. All strings and stripped back, Gunn sounds vulnerable taking stock of when he used to hold hope for something great, those times now long behind him. Within it lies the tension of KING 810’s music, sung by someone who felt life could’ve really been something, only to grow up and come face to face with its struggles. Struggles the band have made the focal point of their career, such as on Sue’s Song which deals with the high rate of suicide in over 65s.
As brazen as it is delicate, Under The Black Rainbow is an expansive listen. Moods shift to keep up with its cinematic accompaniment, but its brutal and heartfelt lyricism ties this latest offering from KING 810 together. Love them or loathe them, there’s no one else like them.
Rating: 7/10
Under The Black Rainbow is set for release on July 12th via self-release.
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