The purple squad is on the prowl again. Sludgy, fuzzy, stonerized slow marching metal that will engulf you with a syrupy, sticky flow. And we had them on RMR already. Pieces from Mammuthus or Purple Dawn come to mind.
And they all have something in common: Their album art is all colored in purple. A calling card, if you will. And if you’ll remember, so was Black Sabbath’s fare, the moment they were in their downturned doomy phase. Need an example? Try Master of Reality of 1971. Yeah, that particularly colored paving of the road is that old. Ancient, in fact. All power to purple, that noble color. And peace on ye all!
The Australians of King Zog like to play it safe. Second Dawn rides right down that broad fuzzy stream filled with a viscous liquid that helps stay the course and avoid its rocky shores and hidden reefs. Fully downturned guitars, blisteringly huge riffs, excellent solos leading into endless plodding chugs, you get it all. Frequent changes of tempi trade places with sometimes endless repetitions on single chords. Slow marching passages that feel like worn-out chewing gum that lost its taste. Daniel Durack‘s clears surge again on an even keel without much variation. In other words, we got ourselves a rock-solid stoner doom record without a great many edges, polished to a fine fuzzy shine bathed in the pungent vapors of good quality Afghan.
Sounds good, eh? Or does it? True, Second Dawn‘s production feels like one of these ungreen mighty ogres with finely chiseled muscles. The record’s compact and competent without any great number of loose ends. A force to reckon with, battened down like a mighty warship striding straight into battle similar to bands such as Without God. But – more often than not, the record often strangely feels like some offshoot of Ozzy’s waning artistic loins. You don’t quite get the trademark whine, but the offering is juicy enough to have the RMR crew forever drawn back to Black Sabbath’s early musings.
And yet. After a while, the aforementioned repetitions started to wear the RMR Review Desk’s patience pretty thin. That, and the lack of innovation as a whole made us pull our finger away from the ‘Great’ button. There’s just too much of the same muchness to hear on this record. You see, Second Dawn is full of tear-drenched grit and grime with a ton of harrowing hooks on offer. In other words, the avid doomster with a taste for downturned, fuzzy, and downright homey purple fare will surely latch onto this record like Alien’s facehugger. Whereas the more demanding fans will still hunger for more substantial sustenance after Second Dawn – the title song – putters to its end.
Ultimately, though, Second Dawn still remains a good record. You can’t escape the records stomp, the heavy-duty and slow-motion fuzzy doom on offer. You get variation with some astonishing groove weaved into its woe-ridden fabric. Rat King and its syrupy brother, Hollow Man Blues, will speak to that best. The latter will truly put you into a grinder, crush you, and spit you out after it is done trampling over you. A few pretty stellar solos and a snazzy bass lead notwithstanding. And that, while the funeralistic Creep On will try to bludgeon you into submission with single-chord power.
So, in essence, the RMR crew found itself yet again a mixed bag of tracks. Some sporting true excellence, like Second Dawn, the hypnotic title track, that blows your mind with its space-laden fantastical airs. Whereas other tracks seriously lack substance and sound like songwriter’s block gone manifest.
So, we indeed found ourselves a good record that will hold our attention for a few more spins. But to reach the hallowed grounds o’ greatness, King Zog need to hit that warp drive and punch it somewhat fierce. Let’s hope we’ll find moar power and oomph next time their kingliness hits our swampy review pipe with one of their records.
Record Rating: 6/10 | Label: Rue Morgue Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 31 July 2024