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Cough and The Wounded Kings: The Black Rituals of Atlantis

Posted in Reviews on November 16th, 2010 by JJ Koczan

Culled together on the aptly titled Forcefield Records split release, An Introduction to the Black Arts, two of next-gen occult doom’s brightest (bleakest?) team up for more than 34 minutes of torturous musical sprawl. Dartmoor’s The Wounded Kings and Richmond, Virginia’s Cough reportedly got in touch with each other before any label got involved; drawn, no doubt, by their mutual predilection for riff-led worship and affection for the genre’s forebears. If the UK and US outfits have anything in common other than riffs, feedback and plod, it’s probably an affection for Electric Wizard, though that comes out more on Cough’s 18:36 “The Gates of Madness” than The Wounded Kings’ 15:03 “Curse of Chains,” which takes a less blatantly Oborn-ian approach and shares more in concept than strict execution with the band’s Dorset countrymen and adds more traditional doom to the mix.

“The Gates of Madness” was recorded by Sanford Parker at the same time Cough put to tape their recently-released Relapse Records debut, Ritual Abuse. They showed their love of Electric Wizard there, and follow suit on this extended cut, blending in screamed vocals as well to add notes of aggressive individuality, more in line with their 2008 Forcefield debut, Sigillum Luciferi. The difference, though, isn’t so great that anyone who heard and/or dug Ritual Abuse is going to be particularly surprised by “The Gates of Madness,” and rather, I’d argue that Cough’s Side A contribution to An Introduction to the Black Arts is an opportunity for those who couldn’t get enough of their sound on the sophomore outing to once more sample their heavier, more abrasive side. With droning, ultra-low tones and lumber sufficient enough to build a house, Cough easily justify the buzz they’ve been getting lately.

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audiObelisk EXCLUSIVE: The Wounded Kings Stream 15 Minutes of Unholy Doom from Split with Cough

Posted in audiObelisk on October 20th, 2010 by JJ Koczan

The song is called “Curse of Chains,” it’s 15 minutes long and it comes from The Wounded Kings‘ new split with Virginian doomers Cough, An Introduction to the Black Arts, which is out Nov. 16 on Forcefield Records. If you think you can handle the sheer classicist doom misery of the song, put your robe on and feast your ears on its darkened wonders:

Curse of Chains

Astute attendees will remember earlier this year when I interviewed The Wounded Kings guitarist Steve Mills and he mentioned the split. Here’s what he had to say at the time:

“…it was recorded in a studio rather than in my basement studio, so it’s a whole different process going on. We played it live with four musicians straight away, and it’s got a different sound again. It’s evolved. I think you’ll find that the musicianship is definitely better (laughs)… We got a much better drummer. I’m not putting myself down too much, but I play practically all the instruments on the album, and I play what’s needed to get my point across of what I’m trying to convey. On the new recording that’s coming out, there’s a drummer who’s a drummer. He lives for drums. And there’s a bass player who loves his bass and so forth. It’s evolved again, on a musicianship level of play.”

In case you missed it, our amigo Black Bubblegum over at BrooklynVegan premiered Cough‘s portion of the split on Monday. Cough will also be playing BrooklynVegan‘s CMJ showcase this Saturday with The Body, Inter Arma, Royal Thunder and Batillus at Union Pool. More info on that here.

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