Monday, September 8, 2008

The Wounded Kings - EMBRACE OF THE NARROW HOUSE



Majestic occult doom metal from the weathered wastes of darkest Dartmoor. Doom grandeur for connoisseurs of classic Candlemass, the raw, down-tuned horror worship of Electric Wizard with an unhealthy obsession for 70's Italian macabre.

The Wounded Kings play classic, epic, dark doom metal (a la Sabbath) with an especially druggy, spaced out, very psychedelic vibe. The very first, and title track, sets the tone, being a three-part suite beginning with some proggy organ drone... soon joined by funeral paced, fuzzed-out guitar... and cleanly sung, eerie echo-effected vocals with a melancholic, Ozzyish croak to 'em. The album continues with much more in the way of morose heaviness, epic-ness, and ambience, full of the sort of sludgy riffs we like, having quite a haunted, occult vibe.
This should appeal to fans of both Electric Wizard and Witchcraft. Clearly their record collections include a lot of '70s psych and possibly also Italian prog too... there's hints of Goblin going on here with the organ and all. We might also cite Trouble, very early Cathedral, Fall Of The Idols, Wizar'd, Solstice, Reverend Bizarre, and early Candlemass (Epicus Doomicus era)... the obscure Detroit '80s act Coven too if you've ever heard them... all could be referenced to describe The Wounded Kings' somber sound. Definitely some recommended, traditional (but not too traditional) DOOM here, folks!


The Wounded Kings - EMBRACE OF THE NARROW HOUSE
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SCZDF2XM

2 comments:

Mike Zippo said...

Is the 1st song supposed to be 63 minutes long? There was about 10 minutes of music and then silence. Long pauses in between tracks as well. Is it just me?

Wizard Aura said...

Any time I hear Doom and Italian Prog mentioned in the same review I'm in... Good stuff!