The King Is Blind "Our Father"
It is nice when you get to follow a band from their inception. The King Is Blind first came to my attention as a result of their vocalist Stephen Tovey being a regular poster (at one time) on a forum I frequented. After a couple of EP releases and numerous festival appearances (Bloodstock and Damnation) they have finally got around to releasing their debut full length via Cacophonous.
Boasting a line up consisting of ex-Extreme Noise Terror and Cradle of Filth members (as well as Entwined - Steve's old band) there's some obvious pedigree on show across these ten tracks. I mean you could look far and wide across the metal spectrum at various releases and still not find as a broad a range of metal as is on display throughout "Our Father".
The band proclaim themselves to be "monolithic metal" which at face value suggests a heavy assault on the senses in the form of crushing riffs and pounding rhythms, yet there is far more evident on "Our Father" than just a pummeling charge of metal. There's influences worn on sleeves from doom, death metal, black metal, thrash and straight up 'eavy metal.
Opening track "Genesis Refracted" charges out of the traps like a burning lion determined to have it's last meal feasting on your ears. It sets the scene perfectly for what comes across the rest of the album as although things slow down and also go up a notch or two at times, that ferocity is never lost.
"Fragility Becomes Wrath" motors along showing smatterings of refrain and reflection as it chugs along without having to pause for any actual breath. "Mors Somnis" with its fucking crushing riff was the first thing I ever heard by the band and that riff stays with you in your head for life.
Next up "Bloodlet Ascension" thunders in as the most straight up "metal" track on the record. With a nice ploddy riff and meandering hook it is as refreshing as it is superb. "Mourning Light" is perhaps one of the best placed tracks on an album ever committed to record. It is a huge, sprawling beast of doom and ritualistic incantation weighing in at over seven minutes it confirms the position of the middle of the album perfectly.
The furious thrash opening of "Amen" slaps you out of the darkness with its stabbing vocals before we get a truly monolithic slab of metal in the form of "..For All The Daemons Are Here". Chris Naughton from Winterfylleth guest vocals on this track and although the BM influence is clear it sits perfectly alongside that familiar TKIB sound and that I think is the majesty of the release, despite the obvious variety on display the individuality of the band still shines through.
The discordant viciousness of "Venin" is intense yet enjoyable in equal amounts and the massive riffs of "Devoured" leave the listener no place to hide. Album closer "Mesmeric Furnace" starts off oddly mid-paced but stick with it for the entire nine minutes to listen to it grow into the monster all album closers should be.
Well, I just tagged Steve on Facebook to tell him how fucking superb "Our Father" is and how it genuinely has eclipsed all 2016 releases thus far. It is the second 5/5 rating of the year but hits this score for different reasons to why Lycus does with "Chasms". "Our Father" is a band in it's infancy already slugging it out with the rest of the more established acts in the metal world and landing some truly knockout punches.
5/5
Boasting a line up consisting of ex-Extreme Noise Terror and Cradle of Filth members (as well as Entwined - Steve's old band) there's some obvious pedigree on show across these ten tracks. I mean you could look far and wide across the metal spectrum at various releases and still not find as a broad a range of metal as is on display throughout "Our Father".
The band proclaim themselves to be "monolithic metal" which at face value suggests a heavy assault on the senses in the form of crushing riffs and pounding rhythms, yet there is far more evident on "Our Father" than just a pummeling charge of metal. There's influences worn on sleeves from doom, death metal, black metal, thrash and straight up 'eavy metal.
Opening track "Genesis Refracted" charges out of the traps like a burning lion determined to have it's last meal feasting on your ears. It sets the scene perfectly for what comes across the rest of the album as although things slow down and also go up a notch or two at times, that ferocity is never lost.
"Fragility Becomes Wrath" motors along showing smatterings of refrain and reflection as it chugs along without having to pause for any actual breath. "Mors Somnis" with its fucking crushing riff was the first thing I ever heard by the band and that riff stays with you in your head for life.
Next up "Bloodlet Ascension" thunders in as the most straight up "metal" track on the record. With a nice ploddy riff and meandering hook it is as refreshing as it is superb. "Mourning Light" is perhaps one of the best placed tracks on an album ever committed to record. It is a huge, sprawling beast of doom and ritualistic incantation weighing in at over seven minutes it confirms the position of the middle of the album perfectly.
The furious thrash opening of "Amen" slaps you out of the darkness with its stabbing vocals before we get a truly monolithic slab of metal in the form of "..For All The Daemons Are Here". Chris Naughton from Winterfylleth guest vocals on this track and although the BM influence is clear it sits perfectly alongside that familiar TKIB sound and that I think is the majesty of the release, despite the obvious variety on display the individuality of the band still shines through.
The discordant viciousness of "Venin" is intense yet enjoyable in equal amounts and the massive riffs of "Devoured" leave the listener no place to hide. Album closer "Mesmeric Furnace" starts off oddly mid-paced but stick with it for the entire nine minutes to listen to it grow into the monster all album closers should be.
Well, I just tagged Steve on Facebook to tell him how fucking superb "Our Father" is and how it genuinely has eclipsed all 2016 releases thus far. It is the second 5/5 rating of the year but hits this score for different reasons to why Lycus does with "Chasms". "Our Father" is a band in it's infancy already slugging it out with the rest of the more established acts in the metal world and landing some truly knockout punches.
5/5
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