King Zog - Second Dawn

Angry Metal Guy 50

King Something bands operating in the fuzz-heavy side of metal have historically done quite well at AMG. King Buffalo is at the top of the psych-stoner food chain. King Woman got a good score and made some waves a few years back. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard remains ever popular, and even less prominent bands like King Bastard managed to garner positive response. So I was quite hopeful picking up the sophomore record from Aussie quartet King Zog. Named for an Albanian king from last century, likely for no other reason than ‘it sounds cool,’ King Zog promises heavy Sabbathian grooves and thundering riffs. Does the King deliver what is owed?

That it does, and not an ounce more. Second Dawn is hazy desert doom stripped down to the skeleton. It heaves itself from plodding verse riff to pounding chorus riff at a blistering 75-85 bpm, chucks in a solo or two, maybe a bridge if it’s feeling fancy. The vocals are every inch the classic ‘if Ozzy can do it, so can we’ nasal drawl that doesn’t quite hold key, an afterthought in the face of the Big Damn Riff upon which bands like King Zog always come to rely. It is a paradox of high and low risk at the same time. It’s a tried and true format that countless bands have produced perfectly fine records with, but that makes it very difficult to stand out. Any attempt to color outside the lines can as easily spell disaster as it does salvation, but playing it safe is the best way to be forgotten as soon as the listener hits ‘skip.’

Second Dawn by King Zog

King Zog tries to walk the line and not tip the scales. Its main deviation from the norm is the guitar tone, a smart area to focus on. Stoner doom bands have a tendency to drown everything in fuzz and reverb, dissolving entire albums into blurry mush. Here, the tone is compact, muscular, and colossal, like a striding beast with eyes full of rage. It grants clarity and contrast, increasing the heft and impact of every Big Damn Riff that thunders along. “Hollow Man Blues” trudges and grinds through several variations of its main riff, interspersed with some very sweet solos, and the energy increases enough with the back-to-back combo of “Madagascar Tree” and “Brute Beast” for the crunching hooks to do some serious damage.

But the riffs-per-minute ratio is really not up to snuff for an album so reliant on them. “Rat King” has about 2.5 acceptable specimens, repeated and smeared out over 7 minutes and 13 seconds. “Creep On” may be shorter, but the quality of its melody is decreased to match, often getting stuck on empty-eyed single-chord repetition. The title track has some sweet solos and a groovy bopping riff, but it’s beaten to death for half the track before anything more interesting happens. Whenever the guitars aren’t enough to hold attention, the vocals try to support, but the wavering double-tracked drawl is not strong enough to fill the void.

I don’t want to be too harsh on King Zog, though. The flaws of Second Dawn are evident, but they are diffuse enough for the album to stave off boredom or irritation. There are enough fun riffs to wile away a spin or two, and the above-average production lets them shine in all their heaving beauty. Second Dawn isn’t gonna win any prizes, but if you like stoner doom that’s not afraid to get in your face, you can do a whole lot worse.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Rue Morgue Records
Websites: marchofkingzog.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/marchkingzog
Releases Worldwide: July 31st, 2024

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