Kingdom of the Holy Sun is a band I’ve briefly listened to in the past before I started this blog, but really dug their sound, so I figured I ought to check out a full album from them. This album, At the Gates of Dawn (2016), came across my Apple Music dashboard, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to check out the band again. Kingdom of the Holy Sun is a psychedelic band from Seattle, Washington, which was formed in 2012, and has been compared to some of my favorite groups such as The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Spacemen 3, The Black Angels, and even The Doors. I’m pretty stoked to check out this album, so with that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Flown Away” starts out with a low sort of tremelo droning sound that reminds me a bit of The Black Angels. Oh wow, some other instruments have come in and there’s almost a bit of a ghostly quality to the droning sound. Oh wow, the vocals have come in and I’m hooked; I’m vaguely reminded of The Brian Jonestown massacre with the tambourine in the background and the reverberated vocals. There’s almost like a raw, unpolished garage rock sound to the electric guitars. Oh wow, the bass guitar really grooves the tune around nicely, creating a sweet nearly churning sensation to the tune. Oh wow, this is sweet. There’s almost a bit of a shoegazing quality to this track, and I’m digging it. Great track, and I’m excited to hear more.
“Cat Sounds” has a flavorful groove going right away with a strong backbeat and a flowing bass line. Oh wow, the keyboards come in and remind me of some sort of Ray Manzarek line from a tune by The Doors. The sound sort of reminds me a little bit of The Asteroid No. 4. I really dig how driven this song feels, having a forward moving feeling that nearly reminds me of John Lennon meets The Black Angels. Oh wow, I really dig when all of the instruments but the drums drop away for a moment, super sweet. Great tune, and I’m excited to hear more.
Holy smokes, “Running Wild” has a sound right away that immediately catches my ears, with a groove from the band that sounds like The Doors with some vague flavors of The Black Angels, with a bit of a Latin sound reminiscent of Santana peppered in. The band creates a soundscape that seems like some ghostly memory of Los Angeles-based psychedelic rock bands with a surf rock influence. Wow, great track.
“Seven Orange Skies” starts out with a marching beat from the drums that sets a quick pace for the tune, which gets into a gallop when more instruments enter the soundscape after a moment. Holy smokes, the accentuations from the organs remind me a fair deal of Ray Manzarek, while the guitars create a sound that feels like some ghostly mix of shoegazing and surf rock. Oh wow, the breakdown at the end of the tune is super flavorful, as the drums drop away from that marching beat for the first time that I’ve noticed in lieu of something that’s nearly shamanic. Great tune.
Holy smokes, “The Way of the Kingfisher” has a sound that feels like a mix of raga and a country cowboy with the combination of the wholesome tabla-like drums and the jangling acoustic guitar, which seems to be found on both sides of the soundscape. This track reminds me a bit of The Black Angels with the flowing sound of the tune, which almost feels like the band is taking you on a voyage down a psychedelic river of sorts, and I’m digging it. Holy smokes, the song changes pace and seems to enter a second movement, which feels like it’s slowly building up to something. Oh wow, everything but a chime and what sounds to be the drone of a sitar drops out of the soundscape for a moment, only for the rest of the instruments to join back in for a flowing choral sound as if the instruments never dropped from the soundscape in the first place. Wow, I’m really digging this tune. The flowing neo-psychedelic and psychedelic sounds remind me of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Black Angels, while the tabla-sounding percussion and the droning adds a really interesting raga flavor to that mix. Awesome, super flavorful track.
“Wonder” gets grooving right away in a style that reminds me a lot of The Asteroid No. 4, with the combination of the bass and synth/keys grooving the track along to the beat of the drums, while the different guitars add some nearly raga-esque accentuations from the side of the soundscape, and the vocals seem to be peering into the soundscape form another dimension as though they are a ghostly whisper. Oh wow, an electric guitar comes in for a line that has a new age tremelo’d surfer sound, and I really dig it, especially as another guitar seems to play off of that sound and add some light accentuations from the opposite side of the soundscape. Super sweet tune.
“Opal” gets grooving right away again, with a sound that seems to be gently building up with the guitars and synths droning into the soundscape, while the drums and bass both provide a strong driving force behind the rest of the instrumentation. Oh wow, the guitars get a little gritty at times and pick up a raw, unpolished garage rock sound. I’m really digging this sound at the moment. Great track.
Oh wow, “Thoughts in My Mind” has a super tasty groove going that feels like a long forgotten, far out track straight out of the 1967 era of psychedelia, and I’m really digging it. Oh wow, the soundscape has flashes of more modern, neo-psychedelic sounds at times when the soundscape builds up, but seems to return to that 1960s sound with ease. Awesome tune.
“Tomorrow Always Knows” has a title that immediately makes me think of the song by The Beatle, “Tomorrow Never Knows”, and the music at the start of the song vaguely has a sound that reminds of The Beatles, especially in the tone of the different guitars and even with the sound of the percussion in the tune. The droning instrumentation really takes the music far out at times, while the more concrete instrumentation has an almost psychedelic pop rock sort of sound reminiscent of The Beatles, and I dig it. Great track.
“A Thousand Misty Riders” has a flowing sound at the start of the track that feels like a combination of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Black Angels in a bit of a shoegazing style. The band almost seems to be marching you onward in the ebbs and flows of the song, as the percussion switches between a marching sound and a flowing, nearly desert-sounding percussion with the shakes and jangliness of the tambourine. Oh wow, there almost sounds to be a flute or perhaps the keyboards that play some high notes that seems to put the listener at ease, as though you’re gently floating down a stream as the song comes to an end. I really dig the ghostly echo at the end of the track as well, which seems to tie together the album quite nicely. Great tune, and a super sweet way to finish the album.
Wow, this album is pretty sweet, and I’m super glad to have checked out this album tonight. What I saw about comments regarding the sound of the band were generally accurate, as there were a lot of things that reminded me of The Black Angels and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and even The Doors at times. Really, the album feels like a classic psychedelic record, which combines flavors from the late 1960s with neo-psychedelic styles of today, and even having a bit of a shoegazing sound at times. If you enjoy groups like The Black Angels and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and you also enjoy the psychedelic stylings of music around 1966 and 1967, then you might want to consider checking out this album. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely hope that you enjoy the experience at least as much as I did.
-A