The Vine of Souls Album Review

Having seen Wellington two-piece Killing Bear perform a few months ago I was looking forward to checking out their newly released second album. Live they came across as dark bluesy rock, at times almost touching on folk, but with this driving drumming that propelled the music along. It was a sound very suited to a live environment and I was interested to see how that would translate to a recording.

It turns out that it works very well. The sound was a lot fuller than I remember from their live performance (which consisted of guitar and drums) – the opportunity to boost the depth of the sound in the studio paid off, with the songs sounding richer and larger. The bluesy sound is still evident, but there’s even more energy in the delivery, with grooves that weren’t obvious when I saw them live now very much a part of the music.

The band come across at times like a laid back Primus, particularly on the opening tracks, the two-part Owl and the Antelope, and later in the album have songs that sound similar to Eagles of Death Metal, with a fast, poppy, but raw rock sound (Network and Kill Frenzy are good examples of the sound). Throughout the album there are little interludes, either short tunes, or a continuing story of the adventures of Killing Bear; a tale that ends up seeming like some sort of Kiwi martial arts movie. The interludes never seem out of place and add cohesiveness to the album.

For a band that impressed me live, Killing Bear have gone one up with the album, crafting a collection of tunes that sit together well as an album, while managing to explore their sound and take it beyond what they can achieve live. I’ve listened to it a lot since I got it, and expect that I’ll be listening to it a lot more this year.