TRADERS OF TRUTH

I'm delighted that Kong have a new album out after 9 years. Now I really want to review this, but the review is somewhat predictable. This is just what Kong are best at, and they do it really very well here, which on one hand means that this is a wonderful album, but on the other hand that they don't exactly break new ground here. But I don't mind much, as pretty much no other band does music like this, and so I have no complaints against getting more of it.

So, as always we have heavy guitar-oriented instrumental music with some electronic spice thrown in, which in some tracks take the lead. Rhythms are important, it's a physical affair. It works extremely well for driving and getting into the flow. The album is really well balanced with some calmer parts thrown in where needed, and some more focus on the electronic sounds and subtle atmospheres following up on very guitar-heavy riff oriented material. Despite the stylistic coherence they make the tracks varied and different; probably when Kong started off I wouldn't have predicted that their concept can carry them through 9 studio albums with enough variety, but absolutely it can. They have really matured very well here; it's one of their best albums when it comes to combining their elements with taste and musicality in such a way that things are kept interesting over the whole distance. The album has a solid 51 minutes but it always seems to be over too quickly. Did I say I like this a lot? 4 stars.