Few bands
are as important to me as Virginia's
King Giant. That might seem to be a bold statement since Thin Lizzy, UFO, Rush
and Marillion are my absolute favourites. So what is it with these gentlemen of
despair that means so much to me that they managed to join this exclusive group
of bands? Well apart from flooring me with their amazing music King Giant are
the reason why I live in the States! So let me indulge you for a minute.
In
September 2006 when MySpace ruled supreme in cyberspace I received a message
from the band saying: 'check out our tunes, think you'll dig us'. That's all it
said but I was intrigued enough to listen to their songs. It only took a couple
of seconds and I was hooked, to say the least. Back then, if you remember, you
could pick your top friends on MySpace, so King Giant naturally ended up in my
top spot and yours truly claimed a top position on theirs. That lasted for only
a week until this dark haired, mysterious, beautiful woman named Kesha knocked
me off the top. It didn't take long before we started to chat and as it turned
out, we had a lot in common apart from our love for King Giant. As time went on
I finally asked for her phone number and called right away. Yes, you're right
it's not cheap to call Maryland from Sweden for 2
hours but man, I was smitten! After a few months of calls and chats back and
forth with interest in each other growing rapidly every day, I arrived in
western Maryland
for a 3-week visit in June-July of 2007. And that's all she wrote as the saying
goes. To say that we fell hard for each other is the understatement of the
century. About 6 months later I was back in the States permanently and Kesha
and I have been married almost 7 years now. And this is all thanks to the
mighty King Giant!
Throughout
their amazing self-released full-length debut King Giant tells tales of misery,
pain, violence, drug and alcohol abuse and loss. Blending it all with sludge,
doom and a fantastic air of southern darkness (no pun intended), there's an
extreme beauty in their songs, despite the bleak and down-and-out situations
they portray. Two songs that encapsulate 'Southern Darkness' in it's entirety
are 'Mississippi River' and 'Lady Whiskey'.
Drinks, drugs, murder, regret and loss wash over me as King Giant are
piledriving me with sounds akin to The Allman Brothers on a sludge-ride through
the swamplands of Louisiana.
Whether
King Giant are going full tilt like they do in '13 To 1', 'Potter's Field',
'Machine Gun Mantra' and 'Desert Run', or drag me down into the cesspool life
can be in 'Hollow' and 'Shindig', everything is real. I can smell the filth and
I can touch the evil, twisted minds that appear in the songs. I feel the
desperation as well as the vile thoughts simmering through this stepping stone
descending straight to Hell. Add 'Solace', 'Burning Regrets' and a rousing and
well-fitting version of Skynyrd's 'Needle And The Spoon' and you have one of
the most complete albums ever!
Don't
miss out on these guys, they deserve to be out there more than most bands.
Apart from this brilliant release they have an EP, 'Identity' and a second
full-length, 'Dismal Hollow' available. Both cement King Giant's greatness even
further. Messieurs Hammerly, Walters III, Brooks, Kowalski and Ingram, I bow to
thee! You changed my world forever in a way I never thought possible. I am
forever indebted to you. Hail the masters!
-
Swedebeast
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