Thursday 23 February 2012

Random Musings

 Once again the 'random band' button has been pressed and it takes us from Falmouth in Cornwall all the way over to Dartmoor, South Devon!

The Wounded Kings were formed in 2005 and were originally a four piece doom metal band plying their listeners with heavy, heavy, slow riffs; ominous vocals and a sense of foreboding and dread. After members had left to pursue other careers or start families, founding member Steve Mills formed a new line up and kept the old name. The Wounded Kings are now a five piece group, the heavy, heavy riffs are still their, the dread and foreboding are still present as well but now they've added a female singer (Sharie Neyland) to the fold.
Whereas before they had a Sabbath/Electric Wizard feel to them (and original singer George Birch had a Bauhaus/Sisters of Mercy/80's Goth style to his voice) the female vocals add a more 'sinister' feel to the excellent music. The Wounded Kings' music conjures up (in my mind) the old, classic Hammer Horror films of the 60's and 70's and images of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ian Ogilvy and half naked, nubile young ladies (which is never a bad thing in my opinion!)

I do love doom music. Slow, heavy riffs, the slower-than-walking-pace tempo, the despair in the vocals, the lyrics, the whole atmosphere it conjures up. The Wounded Kings, for me, are an excellent example of doom and with new albums by Pilgrim, Pallbearer and Anguish to delight us then surely this is what the Mayans where on about when they talked of 2012 being the year of doom!

Their latest album, 'In The Chapel Of The Black Hand' is available on I Hate Records and the bands website/facebook page and is a must for fans of slow, doom metal.



The Wounded Kings on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thewoundedkings2/music/songs?filter=POPULAR

The Wounded Kings on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wounded-Kings/225788354128336

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