By: Ben Fitts
Album Type: EP
Date Released: 13/01/2017
Label: War Crime Recordings
A varied listen,
“None More” is the work of an experienced band weaving together disparate
soundscapes into a cohesive, effective unit. The EP nods to old school heavy
metal, incorporates slithering doom metal, plays with softer sounds, and keeps
the listener engaged from the first twenty-four second long note until the
thirty seconds of feedback that end “None More”.
“None More”
CS//DD track listing:
I. Rise of the Betrayer
II. The Blood Waters
III. The Battle
V. The Awakening
VI. Rise of the Betrayer (Reprise)
The Review:
The first note of the EP “None More”, by New York
City’s doom quintet Kings
Destroy,
rings out for a full twenty-four seconds, until the whine of feedback swells
and envelops the original pitch. From there, notes are added sparsely. In
opening track “Rise of the Betrayer”, soft spoken vocals float over skeletal
riffs struggling over the hum of amplifiers until over two and a half minutes
into the EP. Then, Kings
Destroy
pull the curtain off their creation.
Twin guitars harmonize, the vocals roughen, a
churning groove begins boiling underneath, and the listener becomes thrust into
a whole new musical world. Steve Murphy’s operatic vocals soar through a din of
galloping riffs and spirited guitar harmonies. However, “None More” is not the kind of EP content with
riding one wave of feeling until the end. The tempos soon wind down once again
as Kings Destroy experiment with several
new textures and feels over the remaining eight minutes of “None
More”. Gloomy melodicism, spacious strumming and even a slow burning
power ballad work their way into this EP.
Given the diversity found within these fifteen
minutes of music, it is difficult to point to key elements or to define the
essence of “None More”. However, there are consistencies to be found
between the six tracks tracks. While the EP flits between different feelings,
attitudes and musical elements, it never abandons its strong melodic focus and
every track displays Kings Destroy ability to construct
dramatic changes in dynamics in a natural way. A varied listen, “None
More” is the work of an
experienced band weaving together disparate soundscapes into a cohesive,
effective unit. The EP nods to old school heavy metal, incorporates slithering
doom metal, plays with softer sounds, and keeps the listener engaged from the
first twenty-four second long note until the thirty seconds of feedback that
end “None
More”.
“None More” has less of the ripping,
doomed rock and roll riffing that defined Kings
Destroy
previous full-lengths, this EP is about something else. “None More” unfurls quickly and its strength lie
both within the individuality of each track and its contrast to the music that
preceded it. While “None More” has its
headbanging moments and spots that are very reminiscent of Kings Destroy previous efforts, in the
end, it is a step into something new for Kings
Destroy.
“None More”
is available here
