STERN

This is one of the albums of the type "band that I like plays the stuff they do well", and this surely is a positive thing. So we have another dose of heavy guitar riff driven instrumental rock with mighty drums and some electronics and samples mixed in to make things more interesting. One can't accuse the band of pushing the borders though; as a long standing follower of the band there is hardly any surprise for me in this. The album is somewhat dynamic with some calmer parts that in other reviews were fittingly associated with the Ozric Tentacles, however this element could already be found on the predecessor Merchants of Air. Some of these parts are atmospheric and work well, some others are a bit monotonous, just waiting for the next eruption. "Surfing Narrative Waves" harks back to Kong's outlier more electronic album Freak Control. So the elements that the band has used before are mixed to good effect once more and if you don't know Kong you may actually be quite impressed by this - but then you may want to start your exploration of the band elsewhere.

As I am a fan of the band, I play this a lot and I enjoy it as all their offerings before (Kong really hasn't produced a single weak album yet and they have done quite a few). Once more this is very powerful music and still Kong have their own very characteristic style so that whenever they have a new album I need it for lack of other bands that could substitute them. But still there is lots of heavy riffing on this album, not all of it really sparkling, this lead element feels a bit overused to me after all the years.

OK, 3.3 stars. Can't give 4 all the time, sorry. But still it's a good album, really!

PS: I just realise that Feast or Burden, the last song, cites Steve Hillage's Glorious Om Riff, good reference, guys! Who says there are no surprises?