Photo by Kathleen Kennedy Magruder
“On paper it sounds like a fucking bonkers idea to mix these two subgenres, but leaning into the more experimental elasticity black metal offers, gives KÓLGA an opportunity to make it work, and they do, fucking awesomely. That feat puts them in the realm moreso of an experimental black metal outfit amongst the ranks of Oranssi Pazuzu and the magnificent Rebel Wizard, than the sillier side of the fence.” — Everything Is Noise
Everything Is Noise is currently streaming Black Tides, the upcoming new full-length from blackened surf rock/nautical horror collective, KÓLGA. The premiere comes in advance of the record’s official unveiling this Friday, March 29th via Otitis Media Records.
Aquatic thunder and reverberations of a droning, eldritch phosphorescence beguile the senses. Staccato strings accentuate rhythmic inundations that harken back to a primal rock and roll essence. Imbued throughout with a darkly absurdist wit and elements of black metal, behold KÓLGA!
Formed in 2018 by the sentient mutated husks of subgenii members of Dead To A Dying World, Spazm 151, Akkolyte, Cleric, Tyrannosorceress, Damage Case, Sabbath Assembly, Wrekmeister Harmonies, Unconscious Collective, and other innumerable projects of varying clandestine popularities, KÓLGA has forged from the immense cataclysmic pressures of the lower depths a new genre for all the world to witness and tremble: blackened surf rock.
Elaborates Everything Is Noise in part, “Balancing breezy and lighthearted surf rock with blistering black metal blast beats and a sprinkle of psychedelic connective tissue, the quintet lay the fuck down some of the gnarliest shit… With a gimmick comparable to Ghoul, and a musicianship to black metal like Immortal, these guys give you seven good reasons to fucking obsess over this album…On paper it sounds like a fucking bonkers idea to mix these two subgenres but leaning into the more experimental elasticity black metal offers, gives KÓLGA an opportunity to make it work, and they do, fucking awesomely. That feat puts them in the realm moreso of an experimental black metal outfit amongst the ranks of Oranssi Pazuzu and the magnificent Rebel Wizard, than the sillier side of the fence.”
Read more and delight in the sounds of KÓLGA’s Black Tides, exclusively at Everything Is Noise, at THIS LOCATION.
KÓLGA’s Black Tides was engineered and produced by Billy Anderson, mastered by Justin Weiss, and comes swathed in the cover artwork of Joseph Harmon. The record will be released on CD, LP, and digital formats.
Find exclusive Wax Mage vinyl only available at the Otitis Media Records webshop HERE. Find CD, digital, and assorted vinyl preorders at the KÓLGA Bandcamp page HERE.
“Black Tides rips through seven tunes in under half an hour with simple, grooving themes filled out by theremin, synth, waterphone, lots of percussion and lots of banging. It’s essentially an instrumental album (grumbles and howls are partially submerged under the tide) and a right clever gimmick, but it’s more than that. While Ventures-adjacent riffs dominate, the band… brings knowledge to the beach. There’s moments of shruti-tinged Sci-Fi, some straight scorching melodic death metal and even (to these non-surfing ears) some early Alice Cooper influence. Summer will be here sooner than you know it, and KÓLGA will be here to destroy it.” – The Red Hook Star Revue
“The warm weather is slowly but surely dawning on us… but you can still be grim while sporting a Hawaiian shirt, thanks to this new KÓLGA track.” — Metal Injection on “Riptide”
KÓLGA:
Jason Mullins – lead guitar, vocals, theremin, claps
James Magruder – guitar, castanets, auxiliary waterphone, claps
Jacob Price – synthesizer, organ, claps
Zach Jobin – drums, gongs, glockenspiel, guiro, tambourine, samples, claps
Aaron Gonzalez – bass guitar, gongs, waterphone, claps
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