By David O’Neill
Since hitting the South Wales music scene in 2018, King Kraken have made an awful lot of noise up and down the length and breadth of the ÜK. This gig was my first chance to catch up with them for a while in my local area since the release of their debut album at the end of January (which is a stunner by the way!).
Kicking things off with ‘Devils Night’, the bass line started quietly with a few cymbal taps before BANG, the opening riff rattled the building before Mark Donoghue’s powerful vocals opened the track. The crowd were obviously enjoying the bass line/rhythm section as their heads were nodding rhythmically along before the guitars of Pete Rose and Adam Healey hit the breakdown. The most impressive bit for me on this track was the bass lines of Karl Meyer. Bosh: get that in your ears.
Distorted guitar and rattling drums opened up ‘Green Terror‘ and a really catchy riff that preceded the chorus throughout the track. The weight of the track was seriously added to by the searing solo in the breakdown. A breathless start to the evening before the single from the album ‘Haddonfield ’78‘, based on the Freddie Kruger films: another bass/drum driven track with some excellent guitar work from Healey and Rose, again the drum work of Richard Lee Mears and bass of Meyer also needed commented on.
‘Under The Sun’, from their EP, was next up before the dark groove of ‘Walls of Jericho’ swung from the band and “standing tall at the walls of Jerichoooo” echoed from Mark’s lungs. This is about as heavy as it gets.
The bluesy opening of ‘Proctors Ledge’ belied the seriously bass driven remainder of the track until the weight of the breakdown took it where it needed to go with some more intricate guitar work from Rose and Healey.
Finishing the set with ‘Veins‘ and ‘Castle Of Bone’ (the bonus track on the album) I was really glad I got to see this (and I had my earplugs in when I was in the photopit!)
- ‘MCLXXX‘ is out now.
- King Kraken return to The Patriot as part of the wonderfully entertaining Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus on Saturday 5 August.
Whilst I have been waiting for the Kraken to wake I have also been listening to Black Spiders on Spotify (having almost missed the Steelhouse performance last year). So I was very happy when they kicked off with the really catchy ‘Fly In Your Soup‘ and ‘Stick It To The Man’. Good opening and you knew what you were going to get for the rest of the set: catchy tunes with great hooks, and musicianship as well as full on entertainment. With new music coming in May, they played ‘A Rat Is A Rat’ from the forthcoming album ‘Can’t Die Won’t Die‘ before the eponymous ‘Kiss Tried to Kill Me’ and the obligatory crowd singalong (yours truly included).
Darkness descended after this because the booming sludgy bass line of ‘Death Comes Creepin’ opened up but generally belied the lighter feel of the track. Another new track, more akin to the lighter stuff, followed in the latest single ‘Hot Wheels‘ – another really catchy one. This was how the rest of the night progressed, indicating the variety of styles and sometimes tongue in cheek music of a band who are out to entertain. The new band members include Wyatt van Wendels from Planet Rock and two new guitarists D’ron and J’Evons (of three weeks only!) worked very well. The variety in the set came from the last album and previous ones with a few new ones thrown into the mix.
This was a very polished set from some very good musicians and the fact the guitarists had learned the set in such a short space of time has to bear testament to their dedication and skill. Full of variety and entertainment it was a really good party feel to the night. I will definitely be at the next gig and seriously advise you to do so as well
I was not the only member to enjoy the gig which was evidenced at the end of the night by the number of people wanting to talk and meet the band.
- The new Black Spiders album, ‘Can’t Die Won’t Die‘, is released on 12 May.
- Photo credit: All photos ©Bandtogs/Über Rock. You can view our full gallery of photographs HERE.
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