Stoner rock from the Southern California power trio KYNG

Channelling the power of Screaming Trees through a filter of Clutch-inspired stoner-rock, get ready for a damn good ride.

CLICK HERE to stream the album for free!!!

There is so much that you can do wrong with Stoner music if you try and muddy the pot and push boundaries where you needn’t bother. Stoner Rock is, by its very definition, a lazy genre of rock that relies on staple techniques, tried and tested and proven to work. It’s a formulaic style of rock that survives and thrives on the simplicity of its reason d’etre. Simply put, why do you need to re-invent the wheel when it keeps rolling and gets you where you need to be?
KYNG understand this. Lets not take what I say as a slight on Stoner, either on the genre as a entity nor the bands who ply the sound as well as they do –
QOTSA,
CLUTCH,
MONDO GENERATOR and
KYUSS have come before and created something truly brilliant. As soon as you go to heavy or deep with your riffs you stumble into DOOM, and as soon as you try and move too slow or murky you turn into SLUDGE. Two genres I have real umbridge with as a music fan. Kyng see this and they stomp a line through the heart of Stoner, taking influence from
Lynard Skynard and connecting the dots between these country rock stars and drawing a line all the way through
BLACK SABBATH to the epic grandiosity of QOTSA and up to the heavier pinnacle of the genre with CLUTCH. It’s a pretty awesome trick they pull, one part Sabbath blues stoner rock, one part contemporary Grunge inflecked Stoner riffage, all the while its non-stop groove, non stop riff and full of spirit and invention, a real driving, pounding and thrilling little album. I like bands that take the genre for what it is and push it in new angles and bend rules to suit their own needs, this is a prime album example. Captivating, heart-pounding musicality permeates the whole record and it has seldom a bad moment. It is interesting, it is gripping and its production is just the right side of relaxed to give it heart and soul enough to shine for what it is. I’m taken. These boys have really grabbed me and made me take notice. I’m definitely going to keep an eye on future developments, but I recommend heartily as it’s some quite splendid stuff.
CLICK HERE to stream the album for free!!!

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