Spaceking: In The Court Of The Spaceking

Although they have released a second album since, In The Court Of The Spaceking is the debut outing from St Petersburg outfit Spaceking. Their album’s name may immediately give reason to believe that you’ll encounter some serious King Crimson love here, but nothing could be further from the truth, for instead we are knee deep in the realms of hard, slightly progressive, instrumental stoner rock. Well, I say instrumental, but rather unusually, Spaceking decided to add vocals to one solitary track, with “Rosemary� proving that Lowriders/Riff Action Family frontman Stas Gordeyev has a gritty honest voice worth checking out, especially in this low slung riff heavy situation.

To their credit though, Spaceking are equally vibrant on their own terms, “Taklamakan� a groove fuelled explosion of riffery where a didgeridoo (courtesy of Andrey Romanov) makes a surprisingly vital contribution. “Labyrinth� hints at what might have happened had Zakk Wylde been asked to join Black Sabbath as they merged with Hawkwind, while the slower march of the “Spaceking� itself adds a brooding, forceful shove to what can, interestingly, be a more varied and considered attack.

With “Stardust� offering up a more space-laced side and “54� introducing a tasty slice of fret fury, Spaceking keep you tuned in and fully involved. The only down side is that with In The Court Of The Spaceking now some six years old, this outfit have only managed one solitary release since. If it’s as good as what’s presented here it will be worth checking out.

Track Listing
1. Taklamakan
2. Judgement
3. Rosemary
4. 54
5. Labyrinth
6. SpaceKing
7. Stardust

Added: March 18th 2019
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Spaceking on bandcamp
Hits: 1019
Language: english

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