King Giant-Southern Darkness

2010

So if a band calls themselves King Giant then their sound better be massive because of the Giant part and you better be impressive due to the King part. Indeed this band hits on both of those counts. This is southern fried, extremely twangy stoner-sludge metal from a band who spares nothing and delivers almost everything. Think Clutch colliding with Ozzy-era Sabbath only with even more grooves in their arsenal. King Giant hail from the Northern Virginia/DC area which has been a hotbed for doom/stoner acts for year. What I enjoyed most about this album was King Giant's ability to mix melodies with thundering rhythms to create a soulful yet frequently ominous atmosphere. This band has been around since 2006 and they have obviously been around long enough to really get a strong handle on their sound. They bring various components including southern rock, doom/stoner and classic metal, but they manage to pull all of these styles into their own gritty sound. The final result is quite impressive and instantly likable. "Southern Darkness" was one of those albums where I heard it once and it soaked in right away. Each additional play was just icing on the cake and now the songs are firmly embedded in my memory. This is an album I expect to be spinning for the rest of the year and beyond.


www.myspace.com/kinggiant