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Good to Die records came out with this cool split LP record featuring two harder bands from Seattle. Sandrider are a metal band, and i really enjoyed their 2013 release Godhead. Kinski has been reviewed here before, and despite Tracer's misgivings about the use of a pool cue to hang drums, i enjoy their music. They are more towards the post-rock end of the spectrum than Sandrider, who rock loud and fast.
Sandrider take up the A-side of the record. They kick things off with the epic Rain, a psychedelic rocker that manages to remind me of Soundgarden, Mastodon, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and Black Sabbath all at once. It starts aggressive with drums thundering as the guitars wail and the voice screams. In the middle there is a really beautiful moment when the music parts and the bass picks out a few rumbly notes. A lonely plaintive guitar responds, and then drums kick back in and the song builds back to a frenzy. This song deserves to be played loud.
Sandrider's next track, Glaive is even catchier than the previous one, if that is possible. The beat here just makes me want to bounce along happily. It is a fast song, just tearing along, the guitars ringing with distortion while the voice screams. The end is nicely grinding, with the drummer beating the hi-hat as guitar chimes and the bass throbs.
To wrap up their side of the record Sandrider give us a cover. They do Coming Down the Mountain, the old Jane's Addiction classic. (Holy blap! Did i really just call the 1988 record Nothing's Shocking old? I had just finished high school when that came out... Dammit.) Their cover is pretty faithful, but i think that Sandrider's rhythm section drive a little harder than Jane's Addiction did.
I am very pleased with this side of the record. Great stuff, and i will be on the lookout for more from Sandrider. If you like energetic and catchy metal, then check them out.
The B-side of the record contains two songs by Kinski. The first is an almost 9-minute opus called Beyond in Touch with My Feminine Side. It is dark, deep, and meandering. It starts with the guitar playing deep under distortion, alone, the notes low in the register all twisted, echoed, and reverbing. After a minute and a half, the rest of the band comes in with laconic drumming and thumped bass. The song then wanders around, all noise and echo and beats. It's almost six minutes before any vocals come in, and even then is just a bellowed "Yeah, i follow" over and over... Hells yeah. This is intense and spacey.
Kinski's second track continues their tradition of excellent song names with The Narcotic Comforts of the Status Quo. This kicks off with guitars wandering around in a haze for about a minute and half before the drums kick in. After that it becomes a pretty straightforward instrumental hard rock tune. Honestly, this is the least exciting track on the record, which is not to say that it is bad, just that Kinski could do more if they tried.
Overall though, this is really impressive. Two good bands making interesting music. A lot to enjoy here.
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