Kingdom Shore…and all the dogs to shark.
(04.2007, Blackbough)
Verdict = A literal mind melter.
Like, Whoa! I don’t mean to get all ditsy on y’all but this record is INSANE! As you’ll notice by checking the release date, I’m pretty tardy on this one. In fact, I only heard about it last year (along with everyone else it seems), and even then the information was sparse. Well, I jotted down the band and album name (just like I always do when something peaks my interest) and set out to find more information to pick the record up. Turns out getting a copy of this thing isn’t the easiest thing in the world. In fact, after the album had remained on my list for much longer than the average sitting time I resolved to hunker down and figure out how to order the thing through the labels only US distributor for my birthday. It was kind of a maze going through their website, but alas, I finally have the 180 gram vinyl atop my turntable. So anyway, back to the insanity, it is no wonder that for those who’ve taken notice this debut record by Kingdom Shore is still making waves well after its initial release date in 2007. And all the dogs to shark is doesn’t just take your breath away, it mugs it from you. However, don’t let the violence of that statement fool you, Kingdom Shore isn’t all doom and gloom. In fact, I hear a heavy bit of comedy in these recordings, granted it’s of the blacker-than-black variety; the kind that has you laughing just to keep from crying mostly. From what I’ve gathered the whole project is the vision of one Mark Molnar. This isn’t some bedroom confessional though. Molnar’s genius/madness is manufactured through an arsenal of violins, double-bass and cello that belittle the invention of the electric guitar and punk rock in general. There aren’t really any specific swipes here, but what Kingdom Shore has done with these archaic classical instruments makes the explicit edginess of modern punk and hardcore sound like the music you might hear featured along side The Jonas Brothers (and do to some extent – what an age!). There really is no one like Kingdom Shore either. The most logical parallel I can conjure involves ultra-heavy noise/jazz mega-behemoths, Aufgehoben, but even that comparison requires far too many preconditions. I mean, Kingdom Shore’s instrumentation is fully acoustic for heavens sake! And I’m trying to draw parallels with Aufgehoben? That’s how flustered and utterly fascinated with this album I am. Possibly the most ridiculously tense, flutteringly mad album I have ever heard. I mean, that right there is a statement: ‘ever.’ It is certainly avant-garde, but to noisy to be termed as neo classical and too compositionally intense to be simply marked as noise. And all the dogs shark is just, is just…is just a stroke of horror comedy genius that must be experienced, if only endured once.
-Mr. Thistle
MP3 samples at blackbough.ca
