SoCal trio KYNG wastes little time following up its impressive 2014 debut "Burn The Serum" with a dynamic record that not only defies the sophomore jinx, it delivers a homogenous rock and metal blend more appetizing than even blueberry Craisins. Of course, blueberry Craisins are subjective to varying palates, while KYNG's "Breathe In The Water" has enough to tang the taste buds of damned near anyone with inclinations toward heavy music. Guitarist/vocalist Eddie Veliz states the following about KYNG's new album: "We were finally able to create a record that had zero stigmas to appease the industry. Every song on this record came from the depth of what KYNG truly is as a band. This album is far beyond anything that we have done in the past. Some of my best work resides in 'Breathe In The Water'." The job of the music analyst could easily be done at this point, since what Veliz claims is accurate. KYNG expends more variables throughout "Breathe In The Water" than the revolving, often erratic roster of an offshoot Justice League team. The mishmash results here, however, are utterly pleasing. BYZANTINE's galloping thrash-core methods are applied to the blitzing opening number, "Pristine Warning", while QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE/KYUSS is regurgitated into the clapping rhythms escorting the title track's fuzzy racket. "Closer to the End" is a sendup of seventies power rock with a toothy sludge. The sexy glide of "Show Me Your Love" is seized at the hips by nasty fuck rhythms that combine seductively with a slow boogie undercurrent, which remains omnipresent. The vocal harmonizing behind Eddie Veliz gives "Show Me Your Love" an aromatic grace. The venomous black metal guitar slides and sludge bombs shelled all over "The Dead" undermine — scoff even — any starry-eyed intent KYNG leaves in "Show Me Your Love"'s wake. KYNG waggles even more twists in to this unpredictable album, one that reveals deeper nuances with subsequent plays. A crafty concoction of blues, jazz and alt is sprinkled overtop "Bipolar Schemes", and the solemn grunge trudges on "Hide From You" are picked up by heaving rock blasts on the choruses. KINGS X and country rock touch-up the DAYS OF THE NEW primer lurking behind "Song From a Broken Mask", which leads to an appropriate acoustic instrumental, "The Beginning of What Was". Logically, this is followed by the heaviest number since "Pristine Warning", the buzz-bombed, sweat-flung chaos dropped all over "The Battle of the Saint / Lines". It's seldom easy trying to describe an album with so much going on as KYNG has strewn across "Breathe In The Water". That's what makes it so great. Eddie Veliz, Pepe Clark Magana and Tony Castaneda — with guest contributions from BARONESS's Brian Blickle and RISE AGAINST's Zach Blair — assemble 14 speckled songs to satisfy their multitudinous indulgences. It's the listener here who reaps from it more so than the band. "Breathe In The Water" is that rare contemporary album that manages to be so much to various eras, particularly its own.
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