Monday 10 September 2012

Deathkings - 'Destroyer' (Album Review)

By: John Slaymaker

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 5/11/2011
Label: Self Release



This album is forty minutes of dirty crusty blackened doom, a very impressive recording as I believe it was self financed. For only three tracks you have a band that has excelled in their field and I seriously recommend you get this.


‘Destroyer’ CD//DD tracklisting

1) Halo Of The Sun (14:57)
2) Martyrs (11:09)
3) Destroyer (14:05)

Deathkings is:

N.Eibon Fiend | Bass guitar, vocals
Sean Spindler | Drums
Stephen Parilla |guitar, vocals.
Daryl Hernandez | guitar, vocals


The Review

These boys are from California, but you would not know it. The Post Metal, Sludge Doom that these guys play suggests even more crossed genres, like “metal gaze” for instance, but that’s about right and I like it. They do a great ISIS/Neurosis inspired kind of experimental drone.

At 15 minutes, ‘Halo Of The Sun’ is a great sodding riff that lingers and lingers, but you don’t get tired. The vocals, raw as they are keep you locked in a trance, with the drums basically telling you where to look. The backing vocals sweetly remind us of the title, while the main vocal is telling us it’s time to die.  Martyrs’ comes in with a slow metallic repetition building nicely into a 2 chord verse that keeps me guessing who’s side I’m on until I am impolitely told that I don’t know what I’m doing, and I should just fuck off. Great use of mind control with the lyrics as now I’m ready to destroy for no reason.

These four hairy arsed geezers make fine work of just a few riffs and making them last.  It’s definitely all about feel and groove here as there’s not a guitar solo in sight and It’s just as well really as ‘Destroyer’ takes us into the fourteen minute epic doom territory, and we’re still no better off, as this title track is all about a greater force or condemned being taking down whole planets and crushing them to dust.

This album is forty minutes of dirty crusty blackened doom, a very impressive recording as I believe it was self financed. For only three tracks you have a band that has excelled in their field and I seriously recommend you get this.

You can buy it here


Band info: Bandcamp | Facebook | Big Cartel