EP Shakedown: Major Kong - Orogenesis

Ok, my computer is back up and running smoothly, turns out it wasn't a big deal really. So this is the 'EP Shakedown' that I had all set up for Saturday that was never posted. Luckily I had the articles for Sunday and Tuesday already set to go, so you all had something to tide you over. I'll get back on schedule tomorrow with the daily postings.

Major Kong comes highly recommended by several sources as some great sludge metal. This is down and dirty instrumental doom metal, I can't really call it sludge, because to me sludge is all in the vocals, but I feel I'm just splitting hairs there. The songs (four of them) are long and drawn-out, seeming to go on forever.

Orogenesis (available for free download), the debut EP from the guys of Fifty Foot Woman, is for anyone who loves some dark doom. If you're looking for complex rhythms or styles, you need to be listening to something else. The songs are droning and fairly predictable, but at the same time, they will melt your face (which would be a sweet album name).

It's this description of style that sums up why I didn't think much of Major Kong's debut - there just wasn't enough offered. I love doom, and while not all doom bands are filled with amazingly complex or varied songs, their vocals help carry my attention throughout the album. Orogenesis doesn't benefit from this trait (vocals that is) and so tends to get a bit boring.

I need to go back and hear Fifty Foot Woman's full-length because these guys can pound out some heavy shit, and I'd like to hear what they are all about with a vocalist. Major Kong doesn't hold enough of my attention with their debut EP. Orogenesis is their first release, and perhaps their last - it is only a side-project after all - so I'm not going to weigh too heavily in on this one. Perhaps their next release will hold more, or perhaps not. Everyone has their favored styles, and I'm sure there are people out there who love this style of instrumental doom, so the call is theirs.