Ya gotta love it when a band delivers on the promise of their demo, and Germany's KYNING ("kinning") will drop their debut album this Friday (April 9) which more than delivers on the promise of their three-track demo. Fuzzy dug the demo so much that I included a track on my "Green Fuzz Ritual" comp back in 2019. The 3 songs from the demo have been re-recorded in a full studio, and along with a previous live song, are joined by 4 new tracks. Listen now to "Bury me closer" and come back on Friday to hear the full album on Bandcamp:
So what's to dig here? Kyning works from a heavy, riff-driven foundation upon which they are not afraid to build up their music with a prog energy. And the vocals -- the singing simply puts Kyning into a league of their own. The singing stands out not only for being unique, but also in its delivery. It's a challenge for a singer to keep up with the leaps and bounds of this style of music, and singer / guitarist Johannes is more than up for the challenge.
Did I mention the progressive elements going on here? And there's also a taste of jazz and improvisation, such as the extended instrumental section in "Sacred Trickster."
The song titles and lyrics suggest these songs are about an ancient king and in fact the band's name itself is a reference to that. Here's what the band says about it --
Band name as well as the album title derive from old english - kyning, the king or kind, Ân the numeral 1, but also beginning. With tha band's name and the overall aesthetics of the cover we wanted to show things old and withered, terms and symbols that had an importance long ago but today remain hollow and obsolete. Thus the withered and overgrown throne on the cover: the image of the old king is still to be seen, but the most innocent creature - once hunted - now sits on the symbol of the kingship of yore, it's reign obsolete. Ân though gives the notion of something new, the possibilities of starting anew from the ruins of old. It also marks the start of our musical journey as a band and represents the years we play and write songs together - all coming from different backgrounds musically.
Fuzzy's Favorite: "The Once and Future King" capture's the band's blend the prog with stoner riffs and the vocals and then adds a killer guitar solo on top of that, which aims for the stars but then chills out and brings you back to earth. "Yokai's Reach" is definitely the most epic song on the album. But every song on "Ān" more than pulls its weight and you won't find yourself skipping around on this album.
With its fusion of prog & stoner, "Ān" is an album that will be unique in your collection, so be sure to follow Kyning on Bandcamp at https://kyning.bandcamp.com
Kyning hails from Germany with members:
- Drums: Nils
- Vocals/Guitar: Johannes
- Guitar: Matthias
- Bass: Otto
Listen to my interview with Johannes on The Fuzzy Underground Podcast at https://fuzzycracklins.podbean.com/e/ep-5-live-streaming-kyning-talks-to-fuzzy-cracklins/
