If one thing has given me a Trill in recent months it has been discovering King Parrot. A mate of mine was squawking about how entertaining their videos were and how blisteringly chaotic the accompanying music was. It knocked me off my perch I must say!
Feathered puns aside these Melbourne boys burst into the consciousness of many via youtube. The videos for “Shit on the Liver” and “Dead End” – both from 2013’s Bite Your Head Off album are master-classes in black humour and brilliance. “Talk tight Matthew” Yes I will Slatts I promise. I will make things happen.
Many UK folks got to see these guys supporting Weedeater a couple of months back and will have seen their mixture of Grind, punk and metal up close and personal. For those that missed em’ Dead Set gives you a good idea what these guys are all about. Any concerns I may have had of “Bite..” being a flash in the pan have been taken outside and given a good kicking. King Parrot are as fucked off and full of spunk as ever before. Add in the fact that Phil Anselmo twiddled the knobs on this one (Down took KP on a jaunt across the states last year) and the step up from Bite Your Head off is easily recognised.
“Go for the throat” is a phrase oft used when describing a bands attitude but damn, does it fit these guys. From the get go KP blast out the speakers grab hold of your nipples and swing you into the maelstrom . (pass the sudocrem please mum) .
Anthem of the Advance Sinner contains a riff that Exodus would be proud of and at 1:39 there is no hanging about and we are straight into Need No Saviour. Damn this is heavy. Crushing riffs and grind sections with a chorus that any hardcore pit could spin kick and punch themselves stupid to.
This album just sounds meatier than its predecessor. Whilst “ Bite Your Head off” had a lo-fi punk/grind feel which reminded me in parts of their Aussie counterparts BloodDuster , King Parrot and Anselmo have created an album which sounds rich and full whilst remaining raw and ragged. Like a 4 by 2 filled with rare steak and gravy at the MCG (one for the footie fans- Go Hawthorn).
The guitars are as clear as a bell – a dirty tarnished funeral bell of course and the rhythm section holds everything together like a thin gossamer sac filled with maggots. Youngy’s vocals are as pained and manic as ever and when he spits the final “CUNT!” at the end of “Hell Comes Your Way” I expect to see him stood behind me with an empty pot raised in attack.
Like A Rat is a punk blast. A high octane grindabilly 90 seconds that will make you wanna shake your tail feathers. Make sure to check out the video clip for this. The bromance between KP and Anselmo is evident. Looks like the band had a blast down in nwarlins recording this bastard.
Death metal raises its putrid head a couple of times on this collection. “Tomorrow Turns to Blood” is a case in point. Guttural vocals join Youngy’s hardcore bark to great effect. The riffs on offer here are dirty and putrid too giving the track a real old school DM feel. “Reject” offers more of the same but with a little more core in the mix. I can see the most ardent combat short wearing deathster snapping their neck to these two.
“Home is where the Gutter Is” brings the heavy. Yeah I know I said the other tracks were heavy. But this one? Fuckin’ oath as they say in Melbourne. The riffs are concrete and the sense of foreboding is suffocating. Toddy on drums is whirling like a dervish whilst Mr White and Squiz snake their guitar lines around him. Slatts seems happy to just batter at the sonic serpents with his four string. CHAOS! Beautiful chaos!
Closer “Dead Set” opens with more punk rock fury and throws some blast beats and beatdowns in for good measure. Surely this is a set closer (before an encore of Shit on the Liver)? The cacophony breaks into repeated refrain and feedback for a good 5 mins. I must say I was surprised by this as the lads don’t normally hang around for too long, choosing to make their point, sandblast ya ears and get the fuck on with the next track. The whole shebang ends on Slatts and Youngy Ohhong and ahhing and goohing and gaahing about back massages (?).
King Parrot have followed up an incendiary album of heavy shit by adding extra napalm and phosphorous and filtering it through the ears of Phil Anselmo. An ear blistering aural feast. Go get it!
(8.5/10 Matt Mason)
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