Kongh is a Doom/Sludge Metal Band from Sweden
The members are:
David Johansson - guitar, bass and vocals
Tomas Salonen - drums
Olle Hedenström - bass (live)
Kongh are a band who we are very big fans of at the blog. I recently interviewed David from the band and he give us some little snippets of what to expect on their eagerly awaited 3rd album – Sole Creation.
Well that time is almost upon us, as Sole Creation will be released upon the world in Feb 2013. We at Sludgelord have managed to get a press copy to review and here are my thoughts.
Sole Creation is a 4 song and 45 minutes of heavy Sludge Metal riffage mixed in with elements of Psychedelic Rock and Prog Rock to give this album a rather organic feel.
This is Kongh that we have never heard of before. Sure, it has elements of the old Kongh magic but they have added new elements to their music. Mainly Progressive Rock and Psychedelic Rock which give Kongh a more primal and furious edge. The vocals are evenly split between Hardcore/Sludge Growls and Clean Vocals.
The album sounds immense which is not surprising since it was mixed and mastered by Magnus Lindberg from legendary Post-Metallers – Cult Of Luna.
The excellent album cover shows you what to expect. A primal beast of an album, which files out of the cannon the brilliant and epic 10-minute title track – Sole Creation. This song shows you what to expect. Grizzled Sludge/Hardcore growls mixed with earthly hollow clean vocals. The instrumental work by Kongh is exceptional through out. The music instantly draws you into the mighty world of Kongh. This is what we have been waiting for the last 3 years for Kongh to show us why they are currently one of the best bands on the Sludge Metal scene.
Up next is another epic track – Tamed Brute. Don’t let the album title fool you. You can describe this song by a lot of terms but Tamed isn’t one of them. This is 12 minutes of even more heavier Sludge/Doom Metal riffs with added elements of Psych/Prog Rock. This is where Kongh embrace their new sound with relish. And it’s the track that seals the deal that they made the right decision to experiment with hard-hitting style of music.
The album does have an excellent and intriguing story to tell which will have you on the edge of your seat when you’re head-banging away. So take note of the excellent lyrics on show to experience the full effect of the album. As Kongh will slowly take over your perception of what is heavy.
If you miss the days of Leviathan/Remission era Mastodon then Kongh as they have taken over the vacant crown of epic Progressive Sludge Metal that Mastodon once ruled back in the day. Sole Creation has its fair share of jaw dropping moments that make it impossible to list.
But as we know Kongh are their own band with their blend of Progressive Sludge Metal riffs to impress the listener with. And impress they do with the 3rd track – The Portals – which has a great Sludge Metal riff for the first 3 mins or so. Before the grizzled clean vocals start raging a war with the hardcore/sludge metal growls for total supremacy. This is another outstanding track highlighting Kongh’s talent at writing a great song full of atmospheric riffs and vocals to match.
Finally we come to the last track and possibly the best track Kongh have written of their careers so far. – Skyming – is a 13:30 minute track combining old style Kongh riffs with their new found Psychedelic riffs shown on the other tracks on this brilliant album. This track is a slow-burning masterpiece full of awe and wonder, as you don’t know how this song is going to end up. It has everything a classic Sludge Metal track should have. Scope, atmosphere, great storytelling, sublime vocals and riffs and Skyming has this in spades.
It ends this amazing album on a high. So much so you will be pressing the play button all over again to experience this classic record all over again.
Kongh have released a record that could end up being one of the defining records of 2013 if not their entire career so far. It’s a shame this wasn’t released in 2012, as Sole Creation would be my No 1 album of 2012. But I will mark all future 2013 albums against this brilliant masterpiece.
I recommend you all get this album when it’s released in Feb 2013 via Agonia Records. As it’s a brilliant album that ourselves at Sludgelord can’t recommend highly enough.
Simply Unmissable.
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