Band : The Kings Of Frog Island

Album Title : II

Label : Elektrohasch Schallplatten - Elektrohasch

Distributor : Elektrohasch

Release Date : 01/12/2008

Release : CD

The Kings Of Frog Island are a British stoner rock band with references to Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Maybe this is the band that could fill up the gap after Kuyss has left the building. The Kings Of Frog Island’s desert sounds evoke sandy escarpments rather than industrial wastelands. This second album, simply named “II”, takes the necessary step of widening the musical palette of stoner rock by adding an Eastern sounding string section, a surprisingly capable vocal section and an array of instrumentation that marks out The Kings Of Frog Island as innovators and traditionalists simultaneously. Starting with the minute-long surreal declaration of independence that is “The Last Train” and ending with the twelve minute statement of purpose “Amphibia Rising” this album rolls along like a ghost train through the deserts. In between the band left some space for the Led Zeppelin slide-blues, the Kyuss sound of their  “Hallucination” album and the Black Sabbath sound of  “Welcome To The Void” without covering the songs themselves. “Joanne Marie” is far off the best song. It’s a stoner rock love song that doesn’t sound   sentimental. The Kings of Frog Island is an excellent band that brings the real stoner stuff.

84/100

Guido Claes.