KING ZOG Stages Mighty Return with ‘Second Dawn’
Doom is alive and well on planet earth with Western Australia’s KING ZOG. Stand in the throes of its thundering court and you’ll be readily convinced. Their name perhaps taken ironically from the insane dictator King Zog of Albania, this Perth-based four-piece follows in the legacy of Black Sabbath infused with ‘90s-influenced heavy rock, presenting to us something extraordinary on its own terms.
'Second Dawn’ (2024) is now King Zog’s sophomore LP and I took to its power immediately. “A new line-up, a new feel,” the band says. “Gongs, mellotron and synths add a textural layer to this thunderously heavy fresh platter of Zog music.” It follows their eponymous full-length entrance in 2017, which we reviewed in these pages in some depth.
Every song on the new venture is seriously strong, beginning with a commanding intro “Scelestic Dust” (scelestic being a rare word for something abominous, formidable, evil). Plenty of weighty thuds from the drums (William Macfarlan on this recording, Sean Ryan in the stage line-up) and pure glitz from lead guitarist Martin Gonzalez, who’s found an excellent tone for his instrument. I can see this being an effective show starter, and get the impression King Zog wanted the album to carry the dynamic of a live experience.
“Rat King” is the first song proper and the second longest of the album at 7:13, as most fall between 4.5 and 6 six minutes. Plenty of time for effective songcraft, and there are some interesting compositional developments along the way. Here we have a damning Sabbath-style groove and misty vocal harmonies anchored in the neighborhood of Chevelle, 3 Doors Down, and Phantom Hound. At 5:36 Martin Gonzalez’s bass builds up to a bittersweet guitar melody that provides a fitting end to this unnerving story.
“Hollow Man Blues” dwells in the phrygian mode of Black Pyramid and Reverend Bizarre, a haunting confrontation of the “stranger in the mirror” lost in a mad fit of pleasure-seeking. Like the previous track, this one has a dramatic Sabbath-style B-section close. Where most songs might end with the music fading, this one gives an emphatic last word.
“Creep On” has similarly gritty lyrics, about someone a clod who’s really creepy and doesn’t quite get it, a sex pest among other things. He’s best summed up by the lines:
Some came to snigger
some came to blame
We heard the ‘timber!’
and down you came
“Madagascar Tree” exudes a dark, macabre flavor that Beastmaker fans will admire, a beautiful fusion of doom and grunge in this bizarre legend of a man-eating tree, the Yateveo.
“Brute Beast” comes out with all the aggressive crunch and grind of that great first album by Stone Temple Pilots, and makes fine company with cosmic doom bands like Domkraft and Forming the Void. It’s a compelling rhythmic headbanger, evolving into a second section which gets surreal and psychedelic, and then rallies a determined beat and downtuned chords with plenty of sway in the final minutes.
“Aruna, Sunmonger” is dramatic spoken word, serving to introduce the title track and record closer “Second Dawn,” which goes on for Slomatics heights of vocal glory, later trailing off in a Sleep-like hypnotic gaze toward some unknown destiny. Yeah, the living dead again, to quote from 1973’s Psychomania.
Look for King Zog’s Second Dawn to see release on vinyl, CD, and digital format this Wednesday, July 31st via Rue Morgue Records (get it here). Stick it on a playlist with Aleph Null, Troll, Sons of Arrakis, Under, and Fuzztoads.
Give ear…
SOME BUZZ
King Zog’s 2017 debut album inducted a new titan into the underworld of doom – earning unilateral fandom and critical praise for its devotional offering to the gods of metal. Songs like “Temple’s Temple,” “Man-sized Rotisserie” and “Witchsmoker” sounded the way Dominic Sohor’s iconic album artwork looked – fiery and ferocious.
Since the arrival of this musical leviathan, King Zog have worked on a tireless mission. The line-up of Daniel Durack (vocals/guitar), Connor Pitts-West (guitar), Martin Gonzalez (bass) and Sean Ryan (drums) haven’t wasted a single day – hunkering down to write album number two during the pandemic and performing relentlessly once the lockdowns lifted.
The reward for their toil is soon to be unveiled, with “Second Dawn” due for release mid-2024. Bigger, heavier and doomier than its predecessor, King Zog’s second album is everything fans want it to be: a rampaging bull of Iommic riffs, seismic bottom-end and thundering rhythms. Downtuned and distorted, the crushing weight of “Second Dawn”’s music is raised up by undiluted, unadulterated vocal hooks.
Like the eternal journey of Sisyphus up the mountain, “Second Dawn” is a show of otherworldly strength – each song ascending in sheer force before thudding back to Earth, ready to start anew. From its blistering opener “Scelestic Dusk” to its closing title track, “Second Dawn” is a voyage through cyclonic seas… introducing fans to instant doom classics like “Rat King” and “Brute Beast”, whose names do well to serve their ghoulish nature.
Now the go-to doom band in their Western Australian hometown of Perth, King Zog are looking out to the horizon as they ready to set sail in support of “Second Dawn.”
From headlining sold-out shows, to touring the east coast of the sunburnt country, to tearing the roof off every heavy music festival that blows into town – King Zog have become the monster their debut album promised them to be. Now they begin to ink the next chapter in their continuing odyssey… now is the time of their Second Dawn.