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Blog Categories Review KONG - Traders Of Truth - Reviewed By 195metalcds!

KONG - Traders Of Truth - Reviewed By 195metalcds! Wednesday July 19 2023, 6:42 PM

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KONG - Traders Of Truth - Reviewed By 195metalcds ! Check it out here at this link: https://www.195metalcds.com/2023/05/15/kong-traders-of-truth-2023/

Amsterdam-based Dutch quartet Kong have been forging their own path for more than 30 years, melding elements of heavy metal, progressive rock, dance and industrial into their own, unique brand of largely instrumental music. Traders of Truth (2023) is their ninth full-length studio album.

Kong’s music is performed quadraphonically (what might now be called 4.0 surround sound), making use of a quadraphonic sound system and having each member positioned in a different corner of the venue with the audience in the middle.

“Flat earth sobriety” (track1) reminds me hugely of both Senser and Portishead with a pleasing helping of Circle of Dust thrown in for good measure.

“Radiance” (track 2) is like a pleasing slab of Ministry that wanders off for a meditation halfway through. As is “Hit that red” (track 3) which gallops along its own little groove. “Fringing” (track 4) takes a little time to warm up, finding its place in a ponderous guitar-driven riff.

“Rök” (track 5) bounds along above a funky bassline like the incidental music to some jungle-based police drama. While “Mirrorizon” (track 6) keeps with the TV theme vibe, instead dancing on an upper-register guitar riff and percussion.

“Glasslands” (track 7) pulls us into a mysterious, reverb-fuelled soundscape, before “Ripper” (track 8) returns us to a Senser-esque driven rock track that glides and slides us through every twist and turn of this half-mellow track.

The pace quickens with “Chaos as law” (track 9), but not for long as it lunges from one glade to the next. But when its head is down, the main riff rips!

“Stray marks” (track 10) strays into experimental territory with a track that at first wouldn’t seem out of place in the clubs. (I imagine, I’ve never really been!) This is another track that spins on a sixpence between one style, one riff and the next. There are echoes of both Circle of Dust and Senser. This is probably my favourite track on the album.

Despite it being a mostly upbeat track, there is something ethereal about the final track, “Destressed and unrestrained” (track 11). This is a majestic way to close the album.
Conclusion

While many bands produce songs that are like journeys, this album is filled with moments and experiences. From the bouncing opening track “Flat earth sobriety” (track1) to the ponderous and introspective “Destress and unrestrained” (track 10), this is an album that is unpredictable and massive in its scope.

Review score: 80%
Video
Disclosure

MDPR contacted me inviting me to preview Kong’s latest album, thank you. I have no connections to either MDPR or Kong. I’m not being paid to review this. But I did get a free digital copy of the album to review which is pretty cool. Many thanks to Zach from MDPR, and to Kong for continuing to create fresh, exciting new music. 195metalcds

Release Date: 03.03.2023

FFO: Godflesh, Master Boot Record, Deafheaven

Location: Amsterdam

Dutch quartet KONG have been following their own path for more than 30 years, melting elements of heavy metal, progressive rock, dance and industrial.

Kong’s music is 99% instrumental and performed quadraphonically, making use of a quadraphonice sound system and having each member positioned in a different corner of the venue with the audience in the middle.

Signing with Peaceville Records, Kong debuted with Mute Poet Vocalizer (1990), and toured regularly across Europe, drawing widespread praise from in-the-know critics and building a selective but dedicated fan base. Two more albums (Phlegm, Push Comes To Shove) were released before the band moved to Roadrunner Records. The music obtained a more fluid, danceable, even lighthearted approach resulting in Earmined (1997) and Freakcontrol (1999).

In 2000 Kong took take a long break. In 2007 the band was revived with a 3/4 new line-up and started working on new material, returning to the heavier, more experimental sound of the early years. This resulted in the albums What It Seems Is What You Get (2009), Merchants Of Air (2012) and Stern (2014). Concerts were again played quadraphonically but the band also appeared on several festivals (Dynamo, Roadburn, Progpower) in a ‘normal’ one-stage setting.

In 2020 an EP entitled Phlegmatism with re-recorded songs of 1992’s Phlegm was released. In 2021 Kong started recording material for a new album which resulted in ‘Traders Of Truth’, released on 03.03.2023.

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A crazy adventurous groove-heavy journey of mind blowing rock, samples, and
general whacked-outness.”
(Rock Sound UK)
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The result of the meticulous restructuring of noises into workable sound
continues to make listening to Kong an adventure in discovery.
(Metalinjection_net)
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Kong are one of those rare bands that prove instrumental music does not have
to be missing a key ingredient. [...] These are highly inventive constructs of sounds
and you never get complacent, always wondering what on earth could come next.
(Avenoctum_com)
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