Album Review: Kings of the Valley - Kings of the Valley (2020)
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| Picture Credit: Kings of the Valley |
Kings of the Valley - Kings of the Valley
Release: September 18, 2020
Label: Wonderful & Strange Records / Stickman Records
Format: CD / Digital
Length: 40:40
Genre: Retro Prog
Origin: Norway
Rumour has it that Norway's quartet Kings of the Valley once said "Let's make Retro Prog great again". Whether that is true or not we can only guess. But I can comfort you that no walls haven been built since then.
The Kings of the Valley are Christopher Roseth Sand (guitar and lead vocals), Esten Mortensen Holien (drums, percussions, cymbals and vocals), Markus Margido Drazkowksi Tekusm (bass and vocals), and Øystein Megård (keyboard, guitar and vocals). And this album is their self-titled debut... sort of.
Actually, three years ago the band released an EP that is called "Kings of the Valley". And now, in the year 2020, there's their first full-length release which has the same title.
"Kings of the Valley" features five songs. Two of them, 'The Golden Shore' and 'Not Alone' cross the 10-minutes-margin, while the remaining shorter track ''At the Gate', 'Living by Default' and 'Peace' last between four and eight minutes. Altogether, the album contains forty minutes of dreamy and versatile 70s style Progressive Rock. A certain atmospheric or Post Rock-impact is visible, especially in the longer tracks. And in general, the four Kings create a very comforting ait of chequered music.
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| Picture Credit: Kings of the Valley |
The music is defined by a vast variety of instruments, moods and changes in metre or tempo. The Kings of the Valley mix loungy atmospheres with cold Post Rock and the pompous Prog Rock made for stadium gigs. Blues, Jazz and Fuzz go hand in hand and travel across the sea without dodging the desert.
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