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Sunday, April 26, 2015

EP REVIEW: KLOGR out to Make A Stand on new release

This review first appeared on our partner site www.devilsgatemedia.com
 
WHERE the hell have this band been hiding? Okay, they may be from a mix of Italy and USA but c'mon, this is the digital age… somebody, somewhere should have been grabbing me by the scruff of the neck and shouting in my ear "Sit down now, and listen to this band!" 

I missed last years Prong tour, where I would have found them all that sooner as support, but at least I now have my sweaty mitts and grateful ears fully focused on this.

This is why I love the job I have. You listen to a lot of music, and bands tend to meld together, and genres overlap to the point you feel you have heard this brand new band before, but sometimes, very rarely, you get blown away.

A smile spreads across your face that you cannot wipe away no matter what you do. Today that is KLOGR. This is the most exciting new band I have heard this year and" Make a Stand" is a brutal slab of metal genius, wrapped up in 3 storming new songs and 10 blistering live tracks.

 Like me, when you find something you like to this extent you will probably dive right in, grab Google by the keyboard and twist every piece of information you can find until you have had your fill. The more I read the more I liked these guys. According to Facebook the band name( Pronounced Kay - log - are) is The law of Weber-Fechner: S = K_log_R. I will not even try and explain that one, as I am still trying to get my head round the whole concept.
 
They have released two full-length albums, the last being" Black Snow", which is a concept album around an environmental issue. This is something very close to my own heart, and so these guys just took a massive step up in my book.

Now, you could read the above and think, ‘Oh, here we go, some soppy tree-hugging music here, mandolins, flutes and acoustic guitars’, but you could not be further from the truth. This is a beast of a release.
 
The three studio tracks start with the song " Breaking Down", a machine-gun drum intro that leads to a track which goes across the genres. Serious shredding, in your face vocals, with a killer chorus. This one does not let up or get out of your head. This leads into "Make Your Stand", and take your pick from influences here.
 
It starts with a chugging Saliva/Megadeth riff that bites, slashes, and burns the eardrums. The vocals veer up and down, and at the high points they reminded me of a little known band of the past, Killer Dwarfs. Again, the guitar is outstanding, and you can see where the comparisons to Mark Tremonti come from.

This band seem to cover all the metal decades as well. We have old school metal, with nu-metal guitars, and all entwined in solid rhythm and a pumping backbeat, which leads us to the final EP track in "Breathing Heart", the best of the bunch, in my opinion, and that is some going.
 
A slow start with the vocals taking main stage before THAT guitar picks up with some slow, 80's ballad riffage for all of 10 seconds before bursting out and making sounds I do not think I have witnessed before.

After the EP finishes I switch everything off and sit back in wonder at what I have just heard. We have a massive band in the making here. All the ingredients are there, and the only thing I could expect to be a downfall would be not managing to pull it of live but I am just about to find out if that is the case.

The live tracks begin with "Draw Closer" and Rusty letting loose with some profanities so that's another tick in the box. The sound was a bit flaky on this track, but as the tracks progress that is put to right, and "Zero Tolerance" takes that chugging guitar to another level, think Therapy?, early Green Day, Alterbridge or perfect Circle.
 
This young band slot right in, and the guitar solo on this track is tremendous. I am kicking myself I missed them live and hope it will not be long before they are back.

Although they only have two full-length albums, they have already had another live release, which is very unusual from a band this young, but this obviously shows the maturity and belief they have in themselves and the support they have from the record label.
 
For me, this is another indication that this band are going to be something special.

As the live tracks pass me by, I realise there are no weak tracks, nothing for me to pick away at.
 
In fact as the songs progress they get better and stronger. I cannot even pick out highlights due to the quality on show. The vocals are pitch perfect, the guitars spot on and the drums unrelenting. The production is astounding and the band sound as tight as my trousers in the ‘80s!

I am going to be telling everyone to check this band out - simple as that. If you are reading this, get onto their Facebook page, as they have plenty of songs on there to sample.
 
If you are disappointed, your head is disconnected from your body, you have no ears, or you are a One Direction fan. Now I will leave you as I have two albums to buy….hello Amazon.

Review by Ritchie Birnie
 
 


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