Fierce East Coast Filth From KING BASTARD!
"Psychosis" is the most disgusting, vile song I've come across at the start the New Year. And I do mean that as a high compliment. These doomy strains originate with Long Island band KING BASTARD, who are so new they're not yet in Metal Archives. I suspect after this weekend they will be, for their sound is nigh impossible to ignore.
Last October, they sat down with Lunar Space NYC to share their story, and I would subsequently be in contact with them in the months that followed, blown away by the aforementioned track (along with their three demos and compelling live album).
King Bastard's beginnings trace back to that fateful moment in Stony Brook, New York where "Izzy (synth), Arthur (bass), and Mike (guitar) all met on the first day of university orientation, because Mike was wearing a Sleep shirt. We started King Bastard in 2018, after Izzy bought her synth. We had a drummer named Spencer Flash for the first couple months, and he was...new to the kit. Eventually, we found our current drummer Matt, and that’s when things got serious."
Serious enough to take a few glamor shots, get some album art together, and start jamming out enough "psychedelic filth" to fill a formal full-length. "We laid down live jam tracks for our album at the Thousand Caves, Colin Marston’s studio. Most of the legendary bands we love recorded their albums in a live setting (Dopethrone, Holy Mountain), so we figured we’d do the same. We’re currently finishing our album, It Came from the Void. We’re overdubbing guitar solos and all that extra seasoning at Mike’s place, totally DIY, and we think the results speak for themselves."
That last part is indeed true, as we're all about to witness when "Psychosis" cuts loose on January 15th. "Despite being primarily instrumental, the song is about an astronaut being sent from earth to colonize another planet and ultimately meeting his demise. Our album is a concept album following the journey of a group of cosmic colonists. The lyrics are in reference to Vladimir Komarov whose last words can be heard at the end of the track." Concept album? Why, you just said the magic words for me!
Tin can sarcophagus
Entombs me alive
Bright Soviet fireworks
Burn crimson red in the sky
Tin can sarcophagus
Entombs me alive
**** my superiors
The cost of human life
Over the last couple of weeks, King Bastard's been stirring up a storm of grassroots buzz about the "Psychosis." It is, after all, a kind of down payment on the doom that is to come when 'It Came From The Void' (2021) is finally revealed. For now, I promise you "Psychosis" will dominate your weekend. Here it is, with a music video to boot (directed by Brendan McGowan and 1AD Connor Robertson).
