The BAZ Underground ABC – V

This week the magic letter is “K”. Let’s find out what hidden gems have been dug out of the murky depths by our writers… Enjoy your Sunday.

Band: King Parrot

K is for … King Parrot

Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, King Parrot already have three full-length albums under their belt (starting with their excellent 2012 debut “Bite Your Head Off”), and with album titles like that, you can probably guess that the boys don’t play nice. Rollicking Grindcore, with elements of Thrash, Death Metal (and whatever else, fast, aggressive and obnoxious sounds they choose to throw in) is the order of the day. Now signed to Philip H. Anselmo’s Housecore Records (an excellent home for extreme metal), they’ve just released their latest EP “Holed up in the Lair”. So if you’re new to the band there’s already plenty to get your teeth into and it seems that their star is on the rise. read more

As well as kicking some serious arse the band also does a great line in tongue-in-cheek videos and their interviews are always entertaining. So you can enjoy the band’s pastiche of The Shining on “Dead End”, the job-center carnage of “Piss Wreck” and the hilariously disturbing weirdness of the cult-leader character that bassist Slats have created for their “Shit on the Liver” video (and other random mini-vids scattered around youtube). Basically, the guys are absolute bogans but in the most lovable way. One of my favourite bands in metal right now. Tom

Band: Kawir

This week the letter K was chosen, and I chose Kawir.
Firstly, the fact that Kawir is classed as pagan and black metal, with deep roots in Hellenic black metal with themes of Greek mythology and nature. C”mon, that you know, in my opinion, is going to make for some inspired metal for listeners and fans of that genre. I think that sound variation has so much mileage because depending on the mood or the lyrics, the combination of those genres can be very captivating. Kawir doesn’t shrink on those elements in their music. Resulting in metal that marries the influence of the ’90s of black metal to the wind instruments that give that pagan, folksy quality depth and endurance. Another thing, they are from Greece, and I find, in my opinion, Greece has a unique feel and sentiment in their metal. It is passionate and powerful. read more

Kawir is not the first band you think of when first looking at Hellenic black metal acts. Instead, and also with due respect to their longevity and creativity, Rotting Christ has really made a name and place for themselves, along with Necromantia, Acherontas, Varathron, Macabre Omen, and Der Sturmer just to name some other Hellenic metal bands.

Kawir has slipped under the radar, but not today…
Beginning in 1993, releasing a demo, EP’s released in 94′ and 96′, two full-length albums in 97′ and 99, more albums in the 2000’s, splits, EPs, and their latest release was in January of this year, the album “Aspaoteia”. One consistent comment on many of the articles written about this band is that as the years have gone by they have only gained strength and variety in their evolution from the early ’90s, but also keeping true to their black metal/pagan beginnings, enriching that and building on their originality.

Give Kawir a listen, check their discography. if this genre of metal is your taste, you will be taken with this band. Metal Marie

Band: Kvaen

For this edition of Blessed Altar Zine’s ‘Underground ABCs’ I’ve chosen a relatively young band, Kvaen, that has made a crushing impact this year with their first official release.

Kvaen is a one-man project hailing from a frigid north-eastern region of Sweden. The act signed with Black Lion Records last year (mid-2019) and is the brainchild of Jakob Björnfot (Autumn Death, ex-Duskfall). Wasting no time at all, by February Kvaen had unleashed a debut effort in the form of the full-length album “The Funeral Pyre”, which also featured a few noteworthy session musicians including Perra Karlsson (In Aeternum, Dreadful Fate, ex-Deströyer 666) and Sebastian Ramstedt (Necrophobic, ex-Nifelheim) to name a few. read more

“The Funeral Pyre” is simply mind-blowing, and was received with glowing reviews. It delivers sharp and speedy melodic black metal but with pagan/ folk influences and grit and roughness akin to the Norwegian second wave of black metal. The riffs are lightning-fast and so memorable that it’ll have you playing some tracks on repeat. This is an insanely strong album and I can’t overstate how masterfully constructed the sound is, everything is perfectly in place and smothered in rabid aggression. If the strength of a debut is anything to go off, then the future is looking very promising for Kvaen. I know that I will be following the band closely, eagerly awaiting the next release. Proua Metallist

Band: Kolp

Let’s start with when and why I choose this band. Everything started in 2010… Ravenshades a band from Hungary decided to end the musical career and they changed the name to Veér with a new approach and a new point of view to Black Metal. But two masterminds behind Veér decided to do a new band. That band was Kolp and if I did the correct research in the past and if I remember correctly, the word means “Dog”. read more

The why reason to choose this band. Too many persons don’t know them. Yes, that is true. I know that is hard to know everything. Well, not hard, impossible to be honest. What we can do about it? Well, simple. Sharing to the ones who don’t know. Sharing and not doing it to say that I’m better than the rest. Sharing and not thinking that you are a music guru and knows everything. So, that is what I’m doing. Sharing one good band with all of you. Hope you enjoy this band. The Key Keeper 666