I must admit that this was a big surprise and once established that this was indeed the Dutch band Kong rather than some other new pretender taking the name by chance, I was more than happy to grab this CD for review. Kong are one of my favourite instrumental groups, in fact the only others albeit completely dissimilar in style, who I would namedrop as being greats with no vocals are Goblin and Ozric Tentacles. However I thought Kong were no more and in fact this is their first studio album since 1999 release Freakcontrol on Roadrunner of all labels. I must have missed that too but do have both the prior album ‘Earminded’ and the excellent ‘Phlegm’ which was put out by Peaceville in 1992. The band were also a great original group to catch live as the quartet played quadraphonically with each member in a corner of the stage and ideally if the venue could accommodate with the audience in the middle. This was impossible at the LA2 but they did indeed play in their respective corners when they did a show (possibly their only UK one) there in 1997. I just dug the ticket out and for those interested it was a ‘Metal Hammer 4 Play Night’ featuring Rivers Edge (who?) Iron Monkey, Kong and Extreme Noise Terror!
With the new album, original bassist and co-founder Mark Drillich has revived the group with completely new recruits. I have to admit this did concern a bit and I wondered if this would be far removed from the band I remember so well, however the second play is pressed I realised that this was a worry I could forget about as it is instantly a recognisable sound and could simply be no other band than Kong, perhaps a fact succinctly hinted at with the albums title.
63 minutes and 12 songs long you must be prepared for a progressive and ultimately groove laden experience before settling down to listen to it. On opener ‘On The Contrary’ the bass is heavy and chunders (there is no other word) admirably, the samples flutter away in the background like angry wasps, again immediately identifiable as retaining that Kong sound. Guitars burst into solos and flail away and the backbone of the drumming vigorously adds jam and holds the mixture altogether. As for the vocals, there are no fucking vocals (sorry could not resists that). This is really difficult to categorise and the mere progressive metal tag is simply not enough as we go into ‘Overcrowd/Underdog’ there is an industrial feel to things. Guitars in the background remind a bit of Ministry and Killing Joke here and there is also the feel of latter day OLD and the experimental flow of James Plotkin. This leads onto the fact that this has crossover potential to any forward thinking rock and metal head, perhaps as that diverse gig line up displayed.
Each song has its own identity about it even if tracks do seem to flow from one to the next, I was looking out for something with a burst of bagpipes like one deranged number from their past but even without that you find yourself mesmerised by the flow of tracks such as the looping heavyset ‘The Imposter Syndrome’ which finishes with a burst of something that sounds like it has escaped from a 1960s adventure movie.
Listening to this, I wish I drove, as this would be great to thunder down a long stretch of empty road (one of the non existent reasons I don’t bother to drive in the first place) to, arm hanging out the window, fist banging on the door and keeping time to the tribal beat of ‘Change 2012’. Still without hitting 120 mph this is great music for doing gentler things like reading a damn good book but you may find limbs spasmodically tying themselves in knots upon hitting the fantastic ‘Musclebound Elf.’
Not a huge amount else to say here apart from if you have never heard Kong before and even find the thought of listening to something purely instrumental, this is a great starting point. Obviously this is self released on the band’s own KonGenial offprint and considering past labels this is a shame, although as it gives them complete control it might even be an advantage in this day and age. Welcome back Kong, some of us did actually miss you!
http://www.kong.nl
http://www.myspace.com/kongnl
