Psykokondriak – Gloomy Days

art_RingMasterReview

Offering anarchic imagination and musical unpredictability is French rockers Psykokondriak, a band, to use a term in their new album’s press release, which “is a sixheaded hydra, a rock ‘n roll and hip-hop chimera.” They are also an encounter which on the evidence of Gloomy Days leaves a grin on the face and spirit as its parade of deranged adventures posing as songs spring inescapable fun fuelled incitements.

The band’s sound is like a mix of Hollywood Undead, Beastie Boys, Toumaï, and Red Hot Chili Peppers; groove infested and as funky as a swingers party and all led by a voraciously infectious hip hop devilry. Formed in 2006, Psykokondriak went through numerous line-up changes before releasing debut EP Hôpital Psykotrip six years later. Mid-2014 saw the current line-up in place, MC’s Y.B. (aka Mc Body) and Braeckman (aka Mc BOY) linking up with guitarist Tristan Florin (aka Docteur Florkin), bassist Cédric Desneulin (aka le comte Eskarfesse), drummer Aurélien Desneulin (aka L’empereur Mark Oreill), and DJ Julien Delville (aka DJ Stam Iff). Following an appearance on the Christmas compilation album Walt the Fuck last year, Gloomy Days is the sextet’s biggest nudge on attention and result of the band expanding their sound, a release with numerous familiar aspects and fiercely enjoyable and unique exploits.

Introducing the Body Boys is the short entrance into the album, the vocalists announcing themselves and the forthcoming adventure as sturdy strikes of sound engage in ear pleasing coaxing as turntables sizzle. It leads straight into Psyko Waltz, Pt. 1, a continuation in sound and style of that initial invitation. The bass instantly sets out on a funk infested grooving as vocals bounce around, a lure entangled in sonic interplay as swinging beats entice a tempest of twists and raw energy. The track easily recruits ears and appetite for its somewhat recognisable sounds yet individual character of imagination which in turn only develops and expands as the track continues to grow. By its closing, the track is as heavy and invasive as a Korn meets (Hed)p.e. proposal and as enjoyable.

The Fine Art of Terror follows, thrusting hungry riffs and funk bred grooves through ears as vocal declaration and predacious attitude drive the energy and character of the excellent encounter. Again hips and feet are swiftly gripped by the creative and contagious drama escaping Psykokondriak, the band raging and swinging with matching dexterity before Workless Dance opens up its inescapable flirtation with wiry hooks and vocal revelry. In no time the track is a festival of lean grooves and thicker expulsions, at times carrying the scent of a Primer 55 or at other moments exploring something akin to 633 meets Crazy Town, every second leading to an unexpected turn.

A similar template provides the canvas for Monstros Incorporantes next; punk rock, metal, and hip hop colliding in a jungle of swiping beats, predacious bass and guitar grooves, and vocal infectiousness. Again familiar elements entangle fresh enterprise as the track grips ears and bodies before the brief cinematic instrumental interlude of Gunfight Helicopters sets up the raucously psychotic Think It Up. Like Flea and co losing their sanity as early Faith No More interferes, the deranged engagement jumps around like its feet are burning on hot creative coals, again the imagination as hooked as ears on Psykokondriak’s fun soaked bedlam.

The album’s best track comes next, Spookadelic Fever Mansion opening with much of the classic Alfred Hitchcock TV show intro before sauntering into an aural spook fest of swaying rhythms aligned to a low slung bassline. With its cartoonish swagger and the rapacious aggression which blossoms in certain moments, it plays like a Scooby Doo meets Beetlejuice soundtrack while lyrically snarling. The track is glorious; reason enough to take a look at Psykokondriak and quickly backed up by Hot Day Hotter Night and its funk stroll with moments of climactic eruption and anthemic vocal roars; it all simply impossible not to get thickly engaged in.

Closing on the dark strains of Unherited Culture, a track reminding a little of nineties UK band Honky but exploring its own experimental and threatening shadows, Gloomy Days simply hits the spot for something fresh and exciting. Musically at times it is not the most unique yet every recognisable aspect is countered and surpassed by moments of imagination and craft masked as lunacy. Whether Gloomy days will break Psykokondriak into new hungry spotlights time will tell but it will definitely recruit a horde of new fans with us to the fore.

Gloomy Days is out now across most online stores and streaming @ https://psykokondriak.bandcamp.com/album/gloomy-days

https://www.facebook.com/Psykokondriak

Pete RingMaster 01/09/2016

Bonz – Broken Silence

Feb11

bonz_promo

With Stuck Mojo deeply entrenched in the passions maybe it is no surprise that Broken Silence, the debut album from BONZ, immediately felt like an old friend returning to stir up trouble and the passions. Led by the original frontman of the former, and welcomingly dosed with all the recognisable tones, raps, and roars vocalist Bonz offered in the major protagonists sculpting and ferociously driving rap metal forward, band and album swiftly set a lively spark in the passions. Around him though the sounds offer plenty more than an echo of former glories; twisting rap, nu, and southern bred groove metal into one riveting and ridiculously contagious proposition. Think Stuck Mojo, Body Count, and (Hed) PE in a passionate collusion with The Union Underground and you get a colour of the creative blaze of BONZ. It is familiar in many ways but still dramatically fresh and best of all, ridiculously anthemic and instinctively compelling.

The band came about after Bonz played with ex-Primer 55 guitarist/bassist Curt Taylor in Killer in the Workplace in 2009. With the band coming to an end in 2011, the pair wanted to continue working together and BONZ was the outcome. Early demos suggested something tasty was brewing, a realisation now openly unleashed on the world through Broken Silence. Last year saw the band sign with Germany’s Eternal Sound Records and the creating of the band’s imposing full-length debut, showing in the words of their bio that “the “Mouth of Mojo” is indeed back in fine form.”

If any album in recent times has started with as potent and irresistible a stomp as Broken Silence we missed it. Opener Sinister Grin is pure virulence, from the wonderful earthy lone bassline which sets it in motion, the song is the seeds to addiction. It is almost rockabilly in tone at the start but just the simple lure into the furnace of rap metal tenacity which explodes upon the listener soon after. Grooves are as immediate in appearance and captivation as the distinctive provocations of Bonz, their united bait framed by the punchy rhythmic trap laid by drums and bass. Body and thoughts are increasingly seduced as the track romps with anthemic fury and enterprise, every lyrical spit and tangy hook the inescapable kindling to a fiery ardour for the punk infested 4PAN1T tempest.

Such a powerful gripping entrance was bound to be followed by a slight dip, not that Comes Over Me gives it much room to breed with its mustier breath and heavier rock infused protestation. Slim but strong diversity from the vocals adds to its inviting drama whilst the guitars scrub up a great dusty atmosphere to the riled encounter. It keeps the potency of the album high as does the excellent Godshine which follows. A thick vine of southern rock flaming veins the track, infusing the stormy attitude and intensity of the encounter with a sonic colour which flames nicely against the infectious vocal conflict.

The album’s title track like the opener is baiting and binding ears and imagination within seconds, this time with another delicious toxic groove which is belligerently unrelenting in its persistence. It cores the track from start to finish, shifting its shade of colour only as Bonz almost duels vocally with the listener. The rhythmic stomp of the track is just as gripping and incendiary, beats punching ears with a middleweight’s consistency and accuracy as bass and guitar prowl and flirt respectively. There is no denying you cannot escape the Stuck Mojo comparisons but it is hard to remember that band finding the same depth of swagger and epidemic like temptation in as many songs on a single release as already shown upon Broken Silence.

30 Seconds To Swat is a punk metal brawl, the bass providing a dirty groove whilst riffs blister and inflame the air with a budding fury. Not as unique as other tracks but a thoroughly absorbing incitement to neck muscles, the song makes way for the exceptional stalking that is Take It Personal. Bass and riffs prowl around the listener, leery and combat ready. They do step back for the rap of Bonz though, the bass accompanying his vocal contention as beats equally slow their assault. It is going to erupt at some point of course and does in the ridiculously addictive chorus which has voice engaged in its call within one round of its rivalry. The track sets another pinnacle in the heady heights of the album, easily sparking thoughts that if live audiences bellow for one song it would be this mighty antagonist.

There is enough diversity to the album to make Broken Silence more than a rap metal revival, the great melodic charm and chant of Sour Diesel teasing with a bluesy groove and Insane Clown Posse like vocal sway whilst Bad News stamps and seduces with a feisty fusion of hard and melodic rock. Jared Gomes and Co come to mind during the song but equally a loud whisper of P.O.D. shows itself, both mere spices to the rock ‘n’ roll roar. Their pleasing successes are surpassed by the great punk causticity and dirty rock ‘n’ roll bellow of Bad Love, where essences of hardcore and melodically infested rapcore collide within the furious climate of the song.

Completed by a great live version of Take It Personal, it is easy to suggest Broken Silence will be sheer joy for fans of rap and nu metal, and for sure those of Stuck Mojo even as BONZ unravel their own identity with their debut. If you are looking for flaws, maybe not enough striking diversity to the delivery of Bonz could be offered, though why change something which works, and surprisingly the release never gets as nasty and spiteful in its anger as expected. When it is this much fun and thrilling though, it simply does not matter.

Broken Silence is available now via Pavement Entertainment/ Eternal Sound Records @ http://eternalsoundrecordsshop.bigcartel.com/product/ltd-cd-digi-pack-pre-order-bonz-broken-silence-ltd-cd-didi-pack-2015-release-date-13-02-2015

http://bonzband.com/

RingMaster 11/02/2015

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Kirra – Run Away

Jan21

With the release of their Sounds from an Empty Room EP last year, US rockers band Kirra suggested they were a prospect with the potential to make great strides in the rock world. Now the release of debut album Run Away compounds that theory whilst showing some of the strong evolving steps expected. The twelve track encounter is a seriously accomplished and forcibly solid proposition, aspects alone making Kirra a band to culture an appetite for and the album something to thoroughly enjoy. With moments of inspired invention and explosive imagination on board too though, it also shows a promise and ability to light addictive fires. If you are looking for a hard rock proposition with a freshness and increasingly striking adventure to spark the day, then Run Away is worth a long hard look.

It is fair to say that the Oklahoma City quartet has been healthily feeding an increasing spotlight and growing fan base at home with a live presence which has seen them play across America whilst taking in shows with the likes of 3 Doors Down, Primer 55, Puddle Of Mudd, Kill Devil Hill, Screaming for Silence, and Saving Able along the way. With its seeds coming in the wish of lead guitarist Daxton Page, after leaving a rock school program, to start a band, Kirra began coming together once drummer Zach Stafford was introduced to Page through friends. Subsequently bassist Ryne McNeill was found through an ad, who in turn suggested vocalist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Williamson to the band. With the line-up completed, Kirra worked on songs and released that first EP in 2014, with the single from it, Downfall finding strong acclaim and support from online media and social media fans alike. Run Away is the band’s offering to the bigger picture of the rock scene, and a sizeable nudge on their awareness and attention the self-produced, Ricardo Sasaki mixed is.

The electronic opening of first song Tappy Gilmore instantly livens up ears and imagination, its initial lure soon bolstered by sinew driven rhythms and a strong caress of riffs. It is a bright Kirra_Cover_1600X1600-2 opening enhanced again by the vocals of Williamson and a slight Alter Bridge like enticement in the muscular and welcoming proposition. It is also a punchy introduction to the album with great flare-ups of aggression and energy in the melodic landscape of the song.

A darker predatory intimidation comes with Fly next, especially through the great throaty bassline of McNeill and the raw brush of riffs. Swiftly putting the previous song in its shade, it prowls ears as vocals again provide a pleasing if less incendiary colour to the antagonism. With alluring craft and sonic enterprise from Page igniting the imagination and senses as the song relaxes into further inventive temptation, it continues to impress and like the album as whole, gains greater strength and potency over subsequent listens. It is a definite grower much as the following Lies and its successor Lay You Down .The first of the two has a Chevelle spicing to its potent persuasion whilst the second is like a boxer jabbing away from its first breath before building a pungent stroll of darkly tempered and fiery rock ‘n’ roll. Though neither song finds the same level of energy in emotions and praising, each leaves ears fully contented and thoughts hungry for more, a want straight away encouraged by the album’s gentler title track and fed fully by the outstanding stepping forward of Chemicals.

Run Away the song, is a great croon with another imposing bass sound to match as emotional and sonic flames provide a lingering incitement but it is Chemicals where things catch fire, and for us the album offers it’s seriously stirring and thrilling moments. The song again through the bass, immediately opens up new provocative shadows. It is gripping dramatic bait soon complimented and expanded by the stomping beats of Stafford and an abrasing scrub of riffs. Just as impacting in the triumph though is the continually twisting and riveting ideation which veins the song, guitars and rhythms never staying in one place or offering any particular intent for too long. It helps create a predator of a song with a metal and sonically progressive breeding as flavoursome as its melodic rock enterprise.

This new plateau is continued through the mellower but no less exciting and dramatic Downfall and the sturdier confrontation of Should’ve Been Gone where muscles and textures show as much a threat as they do an inescapable seduction. Both songs reveal new depths and imagination to songwriting and sound, pulling every skill and inventiveness of the band members into enthralling and gripping scenarios. The latter for no obvious reason reminds of Bush at times but both tracks show an originality which lurks in Kirra and shows itself in varying strengths across the album.

Drown and Stay keep satisfaction and enjoyment high, even though neither can quite match the might and exploration of its predecessors despite showing more contagious sounds and courageous invention, especially through the devilish lures of bass and guitars. As in all songs the lyrical narrative comes packed with emotion and reflection on the two tracks, as evidenced again by the mellower and increasingly magnetic balladry of Forgive Me. The song ebbs and flows in its power a little, but with a chorus which just feel bigger and bolder with every roar it is another memorable pleasure from Kirra.

Completed by the brash energy and invigorating creativity of Too Far Gone, the album is a mightily promising and exciting full introduction to the band. It shows a few wrinkles which should naturally iron out in the band’s organic evolution, like the excellent vocals of Williamson lacking a rawer spark or snarl at times to match the more rugged sounds around him. There are songs too which never explode as they hint they might, and you wish they would, but all are things easy to expect being worked out as the band grows into the force their album suggests is in the making. Most importantly Run Away leaves nothing but fattening satisfaction and enjoyment in its wake, and a want to hear much more from Kirra.

Run Away is available from January 21^st @ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/run-away/id956087310

http://www.kirramusic.com/

RingMaster 21/01/2015