Song Review: King Bee and The Stingers- Contrary To The Word

 

Indiana-Based King Bee and The Stingers have unleashed the upbeat blues number 'Contrary To The Word' The band of six veterans formed in 2006 to deliver their own distinct interpretation of Blues, R'n'B and Funk tunes.

The band are fronted by the rich vocals of Sarah Menefee, whose bright and infectious personality adds to the song's appeal. The squeal of harmonica and uptown bass opens 'Contrary To The Word' like an enjoyable track the listener can swing their hips to. Menefee's strong vocals build over shuffle blues and foot-tapping rhythms to tie up with a tasty solo.

The band are currently in the studio working on 'Don't Move So Fast', their follow-up to their 2019 debut 'Meet Me in Memphis'.

Words by Anselm Anderson

Social Media Links

https://www.kingbeestingers.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kingbeeandthestingers/?hl=en

Song Review: River Knight- Unsprung

River Knight returns with new single 'Unsprung', following a two-year absence. The duo continue to deliver the poignancy expressed on their 2021 Grow album.

The song begins with a slight resemblance to Aha over a simple strumming pattern. The subtle string arrangements and harmonising voices add depth and intrigue to the message about relationships. The poetic lyrics interweave with spellbinding melodies to create a pleasant song for the listener. For those new to the blog, River Knight was formed by Darren Knight and Stone River in 2017. They have appeared at several festivals and released an album called 'Grow'. You can find a link to the review below.

Words by Anselm Anderson

If you liked this, please read here for 'Glow'

RIVER KNIGHT RELEASE THEIR HEARTWARMING TRIBUTE ALBUM "GROW" OUT NOW | Rambling Man's Reviews (anselmanderson.blogspot.com)

SOCIAL MEDIA

River Knight (@riverknight2018) • Instagram photos and videos

River Knight-Website

River Knight | Facebook

Profile / Twitter

Album Review- Zebedy- Waiting For the Tide

 

North Wales' talented four-piece Zebedy released Waiting For the Tide a few weeks ago now. The typical angst-driven, anthemic rock heard in bands like Biffy Clyro and Fightstar at a time when these bands were attempting to create something new. This role has now fallen upon these four young men to continue this trend. 

Zebedy has taken two years to make this 11-track LP, produced by Dan Weller. In the meantime, they have steadily climbed up the steps in the rock world with notable support slots to established acts like SOiL, Deadly Letter Circus and INme. This energy and ambition come across in Waiting For the Tide with its progressive elements and aggressive riffs. The dark, instrumental intro 'Well Being' sets things ablaze before the ambitious and melodic 'Building Sandcastles' draws the listener in. 

The sheer awe and splendour of the music continue with the anthemic 'This City Is Ours'. The heavy, rising riffs and cascading melodies create a sense of uniqueness about what Zebedy do. In addition, this style of songwriting craft really appeals to the listener with each track unafraid to try new ideas out. The band's use of the pull and release tension in the music sounds like a constant battle between the singer and their music. The jagged melodies and skull-rattling riffs on ' My Name is Forever' is an example of this merger between raw, daunting emotions and driven music is an anthem for the burdened folk looking for something fresh to wake them up.

 In contrast, this is not to say all things are perfect. There are times when the music sounds disjointed and disconnected. Other highlights you can find on this release are malicious and haunting 'Forget All That You Know', and the groove-driven instrumental piece 'Mask The Sky' with its complex time signatures and daring dual guitar play. And finally, the guile and rage of 'Set the Pace' and 'We Collide' complete this satisfactory outing for the Welshmen.

Overall, Zebedy carves its own path to success with an enthralling and enthusiastic progressive album that is sure to get people talking about them.

Rating 8/10. Words by Anselm Anderson

Follow this link here  to keep updated with all the latest news, interviews, and reviews from Rambling Man's Reviews

'Building Sandcastles'

'This City is Ours'

SOCIAL MEDIA

https://www.instagram.com/zebedyuk/


https://www.facebook.com/zebedymusic/

https://www.youtube.com/user/zebedymusic

https://music.amazon.co.uk/artists/B008C6FW2U

https://zebedy.bandcamp.com/album/waiting-for-the-tide

https://open.spotify.com/artist/20Euz6f2CZsqa9Qm0wv0ex



ZEBEDY are Jonny Harding-Smith - Vocals and Guitar; David Harding-Smith – Bass and Vocals; Ben Chamberlain – Guitar, Synth and Vocals; Tom Dyson – Drums and Vocals.

Album Review: King Kraken- MCLXXX

 

Welsh metal act King Kraken announce their arrival with the monstrous release of MCLXXX, The year the Kraken was first spotted, comes a debut LP inspired by Horror and Sci-Fi movies. Produced by renowned music producer Romesh Dodangoda and mixed, mastered and recorded at Long Wave Studios in Cardiff, Wales. King Kraken releases ten tracks of lung-busting vocals, groove-orientated riffs, and scary lyrics to send out a solid statement of intent.

'Devil's Night' starts the album off like the illegitimate child of Clutch and Black Stone Cherry. The track's muscular, groove-orientated riff strikes the listener under the belt. The powerful vocals are set against the backdrop of eerie breakdowns, and terrifying drum patterns to show the band is serious.

Next up is the explicit 'Bastard Liar', a palpable and frenetic track full of aggression and sonic guitar leads that will leave your hair standing on edge. The band's eye-watering guitar solos and the choice of subject are the right formulae to create headbanger after headbanger. The band can also write catchy choruses with some stellar guitar work as heard on 'Green Terror' The riffs are fresh and daring as each track gains momentum throughout this LP.

Nevertheless, The album continues its relentless task to get the listener to unleash their inner metal demon with straight-to-the-bone metal such as the Halloween tribute 'Haddonfield '78', the skull-rattling Frankenstein-inspired 'Man-Made Monster' and the dark, calculated grooves of 'Castle of Bone' completes an album difficult to find a bad track on it.

Overall, King Kraken may have released a monstrous debut album that is as rare today as the Kraken itself. The band are certainly a force of nature worth keeping an eye out for.

Words by Anselm Anderson:  Rating 9/10

Follow this link here  to keep updated with all the latest news, interviews, and reviews from Rambling Man's Reviews

King Kraken is:

Mark Donoghue - Vocals
Peter Rose - Rhythm guitar / Backing vocals
Adam Healey - Lead Guitar
Karl Meyer - Bass
Richard Lee Mears - Drums

Connect with King Kraken:

Official Website: https://www.kingkraken.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kingkrakenuk/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGkf1RjevjmbA-HgVRPZ4uw
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KINGKRAKENUK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingkrakenuk/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kingkraken_uk

'Green Terror'

'Chaos Engine'

'Haddonfield '78'

Artist Interview- Guitarist Dejan Rosic of Screamer "I think it’s a step in the right direction for the evolution of the band."

 

Hello, congratulations on your latest release?

 

 Hi, Thank you and thanks for having me!

 

“ The King Maker” is the name of your latest album, which was released a couple of weeks back. How has the response been towards it?

 It’s been good I have to say, it’s good to see people having different songs as their favourites. It’s going to be hard to please everyone when putting together a setlist. 

 

I personally described this as an ’80s throwback’ in my review because of the noted influences of Dio, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, how would you describe it? And, were there any influences going into the making of this album?

 

 Of course, you can hear our influences of the old heroes but also the Swedish melodic death metal scene is a big part of our upbringing to take one example. This album I feel sound wise we have one leg in 1984 and the other in the more metal sound. But in the end, good music is good music.

 

The lyrics themselves seem to allude to Fantasy elements, as well as social ones too. Did this play a part in your thinking when you approached this album?

 

I don’t think so. Our singer Andreas usually writes all the lyrics, so he usually writes about as you say fantasy elements or life on the road. But yeah this time around there are a bit more social critical lyrics, but it’s maybe impossible to not think of that when writing with the state of the world.

 

One of the songs I liked the most was ‘The Traveller’ because of its rich vocal melodies and striking guitar play. What can you tell me about the meaning behind the song?

Since we pride ourselves in being a band that tours and plays live this is one of our tributes to life on the road. The meaning for is maybe that the journey never ends and keeps going on and on through life but who knows.

 

Another song I enjoyed was the title track ‘ Kingmaker’ with its towering vocals and crunchy riffs. What can you tell me about this track?

This was one of the songs that were finished among the first songs we wrote for the album and we felt when it was done that the album was going in the right direction. We worked on this song in pre-production with Jakob Herrmann, who also recorded the drums for the album and his input gave us a lot of tools to continue to work and finish the album, so maybe it’s one of the more important songs on 'Kingmaker'.

 

What are the reasons behind the title ‘King Maker?

 

Usually, it’s because it sounds cool haha No, It’s  taken from the song 'Kingmaker' since we felt it was a strong title for the album and it turned out great for the artwork with our mascot “The Demon Rider” (a samurai warrior with wings riding a horse with a drawn sword) 

In this case, he is the Kingmaker riding down a lonely road with a crown in his hand. The back cover features a king rotting away. 

 

The album features a lot of double guitar harmonies from you and Jon Morheim, who recently joined the band. What can you tell me about what he has brought to this album, and, particularly the sound of the band?

 

 Jon was the only guy we reached out to when we needed a replacement. When he joined the album was almost finished and Jon helped us finish the album and gave it a bit more flare and excitement. Sound-wise I already had a plan for how it should sound even before we entered the studio but Jon gave everything a boost with his playing and melodies.

 

The production has a modern and crystal sound towards it, each track feels big and crispy. What can you tell me about the recording process behind this?

 

That was my exact idea for what the album should sound like. We recorded the drums at Top Floor Studios in Gothenburg with Jakob Herrmann. The guitars, bass and additional were engineered by me at our own studio. Vocals were recorded at a studio outside of Borås with Christian Svedin. The album is mixed and mastered by Henrik Udd who has worked with everybody from In flames to Bring Me The Horizon when we talked big and crispy something that was said so when we got the mixes he nailed it right away.

 

How does ‘Kingmaker’ fair against your previous four releases?

 

I think it’s a step in the right direction for the evolution of the band.

Personally, I think it’s our best-sounding album to date both song-wise and production-wise.

 

Do you plan on touring the album?

 

We are kicking off with a couple of shows in Sweden before we host the fifth edition of our festival TurboFest which is being held in the band's hometown of Ljungby on march 31st and April 1st. After that, we are going on a European tour with Skull Fist in April and we have some festivals planned for the summer.

 

And finally, what is next for Screamer?

 

World tour then probably a new album!

 

Thank you 

 

Dejan Rosić, Screamer 

Words by Anselm Anderson

 Follow this link here  to keep updated with all the latest news, interviews, and reviews from Rambling Man's Reviews

Please click on the link below to read Rambling Man's Reviews' look at 'Kingmaker'

Album Review- Screamer-Kingmaker | Rambling Man's Reviews (anselmanderson.blogspot.com)