GOBLIN KING
I'm guessing this bunch of metallers from the Big Smoke might be fans of either David Bowie, Jim Henson's 'Labyrinth' or both, such is their namesake. What is certain is that Goblin King seem to like abbreviations. The 'B.D.D.N.R.' title of their debut EP stands for 'Blood, Drugs & Death n Roll'. And therein resides their genre affiliation as this is a punky, metally, groovy death 'n' roll beast across five fleeting cuts.
In press blurb, the vocals are likened to Entombed's Lars Göran Petrov and Motörhead's Lemmy...hmmm... kind of true, but this guy (who calls himself "The King"... an Elvis fan, too?), simply sounds like he's smoked 40 cigarettes a day for a decade. It also sounds like he needs a good old cough to clear his throat. That said, the vocals fit... albeit the gruff delivery sounds a little too forced and not natural like Petrov or Lemmy.
Musically, the EP is a genuinely groovy fucker. There's minimal innovation or freshness in ideas to be found here; rather, just good old unpretentious, death grooves of yore, delivered with a decent amount of zeal. The tunes are catchy, competently performed and heavy... aside from a brief mid-song ambient interlude thrown into 'VI.VI.VII.'.
There's not much more to say here, really... it is what it is. A no-frills death 'n' roll excursion across five short-ish cuts that deliver the goods. Heard it all before, but Goblin King are undeniably a solid enough unit.
In press blurb, the vocals are likened to Entombed's Lars Göran Petrov and Motörhead's Lemmy...hmmm... kind of true, but this guy (who calls himself "The King"... an Elvis fan, too?), simply sounds like he's smoked 40 cigarettes a day for a decade. It also sounds like he needs a good old cough to clear his throat. That said, the vocals fit... albeit the gruff delivery sounds a little too forced and not natural like Petrov or Lemmy.
Musically, the EP is a genuinely groovy fucker. There's minimal innovation or freshness in ideas to be found here; rather, just good old unpretentious, death grooves of yore, delivered with a decent amount of zeal. The tunes are catchy, competently performed and heavy... aside from a brief mid-song ambient interlude thrown into 'VI.VI.VII.'.
There's not much more to say here, really... it is what it is. A no-frills death 'n' roll excursion across five short-ish cuts that deliver the goods. Heard it all before, but Goblin King are undeniably a solid enough unit.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Self Released
EP
B.D.D.N.R
Review by Mark Holmes
RUNNING TIME:
16:43
RELEASE DATE:
10th August 2017
TRACK LISTING
1) B.D.D.N.R
2) Goblin King
3) VI.VI.VII
4) E.O.T.S.
5) Death Sti-XXX
2) Goblin King
3) VI.VI.VII
4) E.O.T.S.
5) Death Sti-XXX
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
UK
"A no-frills death 'n' roll excursion across five short-ish cuts that deliver the goods."
