|
That
Counting Heartbeats, Kongh’s first full-length, still
enjoys frequent spinning in my stereo says a lot about
the quality of the music of this Swedish trio. Theirs
was the most dynamic doom sound I had ever encountered,
marrying passages of caustic clarity with serious
melodies and in your face exacerbating vocals, Kongh’s
debut was the album of 2007 that’s still owed a
well-deserved American release. Those who are already
familiar with Kongh’s elongated sludge doom will find in
Shadows of the Shapeless more to rejoice. After all, their sound, has not changed a bit.
Instead, these
naturals of Nässjö seem simply in the quest of perfecting their
formula. Their music is remarkably personal. Without sounding
strange or experimental, Kongh’s metal sound is unlike that of
most. Anyone with a memory will call their name upon the morning
guitars of “Unholy Waters” and when distortion breaks in it is
obvious that the listener is being swept into a dimension of
ethereal heaviness and eerie density.. “Unholy Waters” draws a
big circle, as it starts quietly, it ends quietly with clean
guitars that close just as they opened the album.
“Essence
Asunder” has the jazz in the drums and the clear guitars though
groovy, turn the song inside out when a simple downtrodden riff
echoes the retorting ominous moods of vocalist David Johansson.
In many ways, this fifteen minute song could disorient the
listener. As ‘jazzy’ as it starts, as heavy as it gets, and as
insistently stubborn as it finishes, the fact that it goes
through so many phases may discourage some. In other words, if
one of these passages hooked you, there is no coming back, Kongh
simply move onto the next riff and then pummel it for a good six
minutes.
The shortest
track here lasts under five minutes and is an instrumental
called “Tänk på Döden”. It recalls a far spookier Earth. It’s a
middle point that welcomes the mood shift from the slow to the
riff crazy “Voice of the Below”. Like most Kongh songs, it goes
through its phases, each really heavy, each loaded with somber
moods. The title track is at the end and is a lesson in
simplicity that seems to take a page from the book of Yob. And
as we all know, Yob rules. And so does Kongh.
Official Site
MySpace
Read the review of Kongh's Counting Heartbeats
here...
|
|
