OVERCOMING THE MONSTER

I hadn't been aware of the English band KingBathmat untill last year when I received a promo copy of their album Truth Button (2012) and I was quite surprised with that album (read the review here: progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=941695). Now I'm following the band, cause they're something new in the Prog world.

But KingBathmat is not a new band, in fact, the just released Overcoming The Monster (2013) is their 7th album. The band was kind enough to send me, once again, a promo copy of the album, a month before the release date. I don't like to post reviews before you can actually buy an album, so I decided to wait for the release. Once again KingBathmat join forces with StereoHead Records and Overcoming The Monster (2013) follows its predecessor, Truth Button (2012), in terms of sound. KingBathmat is still unclassifiable. Which means that their mix of Progressive Rock and Alternative Rock is still the main force, but you can feel many things happening on the tracks.

Overcoming The Monster (2013) is also a conceptual album. It deals with a psychological theme. The 'monsters' that we create in our heads and sometimes we have to overcome them to follow with our life. Like its predecessor it also has 6 tracks in 51 minutes of music, which means that with the exception of one track all of them are between 7 and 12 minutes.

When you press play and you start to listen to their first single, 'Sentinel', you can feel the power in the band's sound. Also, you can see that David Georgiou (keyboards) is more present. 'Parasomnia' is the second track and starts as a horror/thriller soundtrack, as if it was an opening song for a movie. It has a great bass line by Rob Watts and once again good keyboards. I think that Bernie Smirnoff drums was a bit faded in the first track, here he's more present. A powerful track.

The title-track shows us that keyboards and guitars are more into tune know. And that John Bassett is still the driven-force in the band. But this time he assumes the guitars, completely and they're a great deal in the band's music, but here with more melodies too. Once again, the bass makes itself present with clever lines. 'Superflous' is very heavy as soon as it starts. It becomes a bit more melodic and Prog with lots of synths. I do think that the drums are a bit on the fake side on this track tough.

'Reality Mining' is the shortest on the album and a weird piece of music, but in a good way. At the same time it is the most 'Pop' on the album, in a Beatles way. The longest track, 'Kubrick Moon' closes the album. Atmospheric is the right word to describe it. Towards the middle the song gets a punch of energy and goes in a full power section, great by the way.

Just like its predecessor, Overcoming The Monster (2013) is a very good example that Progressive Rock mixed with more 'modern' approaches can be made. Sometimes bands end up copying themselves when it comes to this 'modern prog' and all of them sound the same. When it comes to KingBathmat, they're quite unique in what they do. And you have to respect them for that! Highly recommended.

(Originally posted on progshine.net)