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A
few weeks back I reviewed a very interesting EP by the bipolar
band
Cleric. These lads at Sound
Devastation Records have killer taste. I see on their site that
they are also putting out the next effort by
Fall of Efrafa. Awesome indeed. But
now is the time (late time) for the Swedish trio Kongh, who late
last year released this first full-length recording Counting
Heartbeats. And though at a quick glance it may seem as if
Kongh are simple doomsters we may be wrong to just tag them as
that. In fact, these guys go for a pretty varied approach; one
that for sure demands a full listen, and that for sure, also
demands repeated spins.
As the label
tags their styles as; doom/drone/post-metal/alt-metal, it is all
surprisingly true. Counting Heartbeats goes through each
one of those genres, not once, nor twice but repeated times
through the course of the five songs contained here. And five
songs isn’t just a bit of music anymore; Kongh is the type of
band that takes its time stirring things up. They get to the
boiling point, but man, they will make you wait and you’ll have
a crushing time while at it. Think again; five songs, that is
sixty-five minutes of dragging tempos, raw, loud but non-cookie
monster vocals, soaring sludge riffage, giant drums, hypnotizing
melodies, and the same angry mood presented over and over in
several different ways.
These are
songs filled with momentum. And unlike the music of so many post
rock bands; there is nothing pretty about them. What is most
remarkable is the band’s fluent transitions from one sub genre
to another one. I know, I know. I, like everyone else, am
getting sick of so many post rock and drone bands popping up
everywhere, and producing the same peak and valley records (post
rock) and abstract records (for drone) but don’t take Kongh for
granted. This trio is the real thing. Their music makes sense.
Official Site
MySpace
Read the Deaf
Sparrow review of Kongh's 2010 album
here.
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