THE BEAST

Indus Valley Kings (USA) - Origin - Reviewed By thoseonceloyal ! Check it out here at this link: https://thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2023/02/28/review-indus-valley-kings-origin/

Review by Sandre the Giant

Long Island, New York is not my first thought for some good old fashioned stoner metal but Indus Valley Kings are here to prove me wrong. Following up 2021’s self titled debut, ‘Origin’ is out now and looks to build upon their foundation. It was an album I missed last year and I hope to right that wrong on this review.

The driving ‘Clown’ kicks us off, with a sleazy groove rumbling underneath a haunting crooned vocal. It’s fuzzy, it’s rocking, it’s a little off kilter; this is an immediate hit for me. That satisfying groove takes the bluesy ‘…and the Dead Shall Rise’ to a new level, where a low end powered swagger consistently keeps the head nodding. Indus Valley Kings are no one note Kyuss rip off band though, their sound maintains a traditional stoner metal feel but they kick up the pace in the grimy blast of ‘Drowned’, trudge down psychedelic hallways in ‘Dark Side of the Sun’ and even a slab of old school doom in the stomp of ‘Demon Beast’. You get a full soulful range of driving stoner doom with grasping melodies drifting through an ethereal sky wreathed in smoke, and sometimes that is all you need. There’s a number of tracks who shapeshift throughout this album into different forms, like the dreamy groove of closer ‘Sky King’ where you can just submerge yourself away into hazy riffs and smooth vocal refrains.

What I will say is that ‘Origin’ can get a little long in the tooth in the later numbers. This isn’t a bad thing per say, or even to be amended in any way, it just is what it is; a slightly overlong stoner metal record with sparkling guitar work and a real grasp on what makes this stuff so good and fun as well. Indus Valley Kings have nailed it here, and you’ll probably keep finding little rewards the further in you get. thoseonceloyal

Release Date: June 8, 2022

FFO: Kyuss, Corrosion of Conformity, Helmet

Location: Long Island, NY

Indus Valley Kings is a heavy stoner-metal trio borne from the earliest days of the planet’s existence to bring forth their down-tuned music to a yearning, modern civilization. The band was formed by guitarist and vocalist Billy Fridrich and drummer Danny Lofaro. They were joined by bassist and vocalist Jonathan Habers the following year. Indus Valley Kings have toured extensively on the East Coast of the U.S., offering the customs of the ancients, released their debut album in 2021. Billy was the guitarist and founding member of the ancient bands Caves of Utah, Axis/Orbit, Signal the Sun, Eight Feet Deep, Celestial and Calculated Risk. Danny has been the drummer for primeval bands Visigoth , Steel Pony, Soul 69, Feast of Friends, POG and Last Taboo. Jonathan has played bass for a number of primordial bands including Mos Isley, Gravity Check, Mutha Funkas, The Warm Hair, Placid, Girls on Cocaine, Against the Gods, The Lunacy Commission, Negative Reaction, The Mad Owls, Last Taboo, Headchaser, and the New Blood Boilers. The Indus Valley Kings sound has been compared to the thunder of the mammoth, the roar of the sabretooth, and the din of the auroch, as well as Kyuss, Corrosion of Conformity, Helmet, and ‘70s era Black Sabbath!

Check out this video on 666MrDoom!

Follow the band at these links:

https://www.instagram.com/indusvalleykings/
https://twitter.com/IndusKings 
https://www.indusvalleykings.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Indusvalleykings
https://indusvalleykings.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/20wubvqID473ccgRqNo1o0
https://music.apple.com/us/album/origin/1626963857

Check out some of the reviews! 

Games, Brrraaains & a Head-Banging Life:  “An album with so much variety, so many shifts and twists, that it’s not exclusively for one genre fan or another. Sure, stoner fans will probably find themselves sitting the most comfortably while listening to it but it’s absurd to suggest metal and rock fans in general won’t find reasons to groove and move to a least a handful of tracks here."

MonsterRiff.com: "In their latest release, Origin, the band members have pushed themselves, and they’ve successfully avoided the sophomore slump with something as fresh as it is exciting...Origin feels fresh at every turn because it’s entirely unpredictable, making every song a new, fresh discovery in the Indus Valley Kings kingdom."

In Your Eyes 'zine : "'Origin" is a very interesting and varied album that will be loved by smoky heads looking for the right refreshment for the mind. A group that is doing remarkable things and is a candidate for disc of the year...”

BuzzSlayers Blog: “This was endless rock fun, and we suggest it to anyone that loves real deal doom, grunge, classic rock, garage and fuzztone with smart songwriting. Crank this one and enjoy it.“

Prism Reviews: “If you resonate with (or at least are intrigued by) the darkness, Indus Valley Kings aim to please & swing for a homerun on their second doom metal album. To some listeners, I would think, they definitely succeed in hitting it out of the park.”

Stoner Hive: "An inspiring album full iron strong songs, not polished, but rough, raw and dirty. It gives the album depth and adds even more color to a record filled to the brim with variation and surprise. Origin is quite a bang and it should definitely get a big roar and a huge amount of respect… “

State of Guitars: “On their second release, they take no prisoners…the band pulls out all the stops of heavy rock, adding clean guitars, double bass, drum rolls and solos like from classic pioneers Deep Purple or Black Sabbath.”

Harbinger of D.O.O.M.: "As with their eponymous debut, Origin will be a permanent staple on my metal/doom/stoner playlist and it should undeniably make it to yours. Pick up this gem of an album and let the Kings take you on a trip you’ll want to retake over and over."

CaveDwellerMusic.net: “Overall, I was even more impressed with this second release than the band's debut, which is saying something because I thought their debut was fantastic. If you want quality heavy/fuzzy music with a unique twist to it, then this is the album for you.”

Musipedia of Metal:  “The Indus Valley Kings are under no illusions about their influences…Sabbath worship is replete in these darkened corners of the metal world; what sets these Kings apart is that Iommi's tone isn't the be all and the end all; it's merely the starting point for the Indus Valley King's unique brand of mythic, revelatory Desert-Doom.”

Desert Psychlist: "You cannot pin a convenient label on a band like IVK, they are a band who like to defy convention and rules, a band who will constantly shift the focus of a song away from its starting point to take it somewhere else entirely, bringing it back only to once again go off on another unexpected tangent, maybe they should of just called the album "ORIGINAL"