· KING MOUNTAIN - KINGDOM OF SHADOWS (GYR206) ·
::T R A C K S::
01. BACK ON THE GROUND
FORMAT: Audio CD / 4 PANEL WALLET
|
Killer 4th studio disc by this bad-ass heavy riff:machine from Greece
featuring 9 original tracks of way-kool, kick-ass, powerful, blues-based,
guitar fueled, dynamic, stoner-fied vibe, hard riffage with rippin' leads
& whiskey soaked vocals from the vast musical mind of prolific Greek
Riff:Master Stavros Papadopoulos who has established himself as a
bonafide heavy guitar rocker that is on a Mission to Keep the Rock alive.
The King Mountain -"Kingdom Of Shadows" disc is an excellent follow-up
to the awesome "Days Of Redemption" disc and is Highly recommended
to fans of Stavros Papadopoulos and his many other various bands and
recording projects that include Super Vintage, Freerock Saints, Tania Kikidi,
Revolution Highway, Hard Driver, Shadowplay Project (Rory Gallagher Tribute),
Universal Hippies, Stoned Olympus, Children Of Aegean plus his two excellent
solo discs. All of these bands & discs land rock solid at Grooveyard Records
and deliver the classic, killer, heavy riffage & lead mojo that matters and
are a true testament that REAL guitar rock music is still alive & kickin' ass.
MP3 Sample Clips
01. BACK ON THE GROUND |
PHYSICAL DISCS RULE IN THE GUITAR ROCK WORLD. WE TAKE PRIDE
AS TRUE "OLD-SCHOOL" MUSIC COLLECTORS WITH PHYSICAL CD'S
LANDING AS THE ULTIMATE FORM OF "MUSICAL DOCUMENT".
SCORE YOUR CD COPY @ THE "ADD TO CART" BUTTON ABOVE.
THE GROOVEYARD THANKS YOU FOR KEEPING THE ROCK ALIVE.
FOR OUR GOOD CUSTOMERS WORLDWIDE WHO PREFER DIGITAL DOWNLOADS,
THIS KILLER GROOVEYARD DISC IS AVAILABLE AS AN MP3 DOWNLOAD
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· reviews ·
We have mentioned the name Stavros Papadopoulos several times on these pages. The Greek guitarist/singer/producer and composer plays an important role for USA label Grooveyard, spearheading several bands and projects like for instance Revolution Highway and Super Vintage. He also was the man behind the recent album ‘Rock And Roll Paradise’ of female vocalist Tania Kikidi. Earlier this year Stavros presented King Mountain, a melodic heavy rock power trio with himself on guitar and vocals, Chris Lagios on drums and John Christopoulos on bass.
GUITAR FREAK
Stavros is a man who likes to mix things up. But one thing is always a central item and that is relentless and very juicy guitar work. That is by the way also a must if you want to release material via Grooveyard. Owner Joe Romagnola is a guitar freak pur sang so all his releases are focussed on the guitar. King Mountain fits in that philosophy. All songs are heavily dominated by exorbitant solos and riffs that are dripping in fat. This is a very traditional guitar record, there is no room for gimmicks or other tricks.
This band rocks straight forward and hard with Stavros playing his heart out on songs like ,,She’s In My Blood’’, ,,Slaves Of The New World’’ and ,,Ruined In Flames’’. A bit different in comparison with Super Vintage where Stavros uses more blues and southern rock influences, ‘Kingdom Of Shadows’ is more rock and (slightly) metal orientated. It should appeal to a large army of people that like traditional based heavy guitar rock music.
Michel van de Moosdijk / Headbangers Lifestyle (September 2022)
Sun, acropolis, white beach, wine, ouzo and sirtaki, this is how you remember Greece. There, too, as everywhere in the world, there are groups that are different. And there comes a band into the race that makes exactly these groups happy with good hard rock. This trio now wants to put an exclamation mark outside Greece as well and I have to say they are well on their way there. King Mountain, this name should be remembered! With their latest prank, "Kingdom Of Shadows", they call out their mission 'Keep the Rock Alive' out loud. There is certainly potential behind releasing four albums within two years.
The mastermind, guitarist, singer and producer Stavros Papadopoulos apparently had a lot of time and muse to write songs that are bursting with quality. A blues rock thunderstorm in a stoner robe. Immediately "Back On The Ground" shows where to go and so the inclined listener knows immediately what he is getting into. Dirty riffs and hard drums ring in this opener, it picks up quite a bit of speed and so a huge blues rock avalanche rolls towards you. The climax, a solo that is second to none, "Sister Freedom" hits the mark.
Soaked in black and rough, it blurts out: "She’s In My Blood". From the title you could expect a love song, but the hardness and the driving tempo, caused by the rhythm section around bassist John Christopoulus and drummer Chris Lagios, give the frontman all the freedom to delight the beloved with his guitar skills. If Stavros didn't make it to her, I was completely convinced.
"Ruined In Flames" introduces a calm and relaxed guitar intro and I really had to check if I was listening to a newer Whitesnake album or if King Mountain was still playing. The mood and voice are amazingly similar. Although the harder blues pace is chosen in the course of the song, the relaxedness of the piece is never left out of sight. So it rocks, bluest and stoned back and forth; from "Out In The Cold" to "Into The Night". King Mountain knows very well how to turn this mixture into a whole. Although they put themselves in danger - because of the little variety that they bring in and because this weakens the initial enthusiasm a little.
At the end just a little wind is taken out of the sails and the "winter" is ushered in. So the band just manages to get the hang of it. This 'half ballad' invites you to a glass of red wine by the fireplace and there you should best endure this song alone and enjoy a very stimulating guitar solo next to the wine. Pure energy and unity. Because the end point is "Slaves Of The New World" - like its predecessor, a bit 'calmer' and more intimate.
"Kingdom Of Shadows" is a good, continuous album with few rough edges. Here the stoner-soaked riffs, which are underlaid with a hard rock skeleton, on which in turn blues-soaked fast fingerboard runs are placed; and then this harmonious voice that puts the icing on the cake. I thought for a long time where I could locate this music, or with whom it could be compared. I was most likely to think of Black Country Communion or Blues Traveler, which are lumped together with Rory Gallagher in the late seventies, Whitesnake in the nineties and Alice In Chains.
And Stavros Papadopoulos can easily take on Joe Bonamasa. Recorded in Greece and completed in the USA, the album has no national features and remains neutral as to which country the music comes from. The CD sound is good and powerful without putting too much bass on it. In this sense "Still alive and kickin 'ass and playing loud"!
Achim Mayinger / Rock Times (October 2021)
Mastermind Stavros Papadopoulos is setting a decent pace with KING MOUNTAIN and wants to make good use of the corona-related concert break. Less than a year after their third album "Days Of Redemption", "Kingdom Of Shadows" is the fourth studio album by the stoner rockers, which starts exactly where its predecessor left off. Somewhat strong riffs, a lot of blues, a lot of groove and a certain callousness are still in the foreground, which get a lot of color thanks to the nonchalance of the band and Papadopoulos' recognizable vocals.
And the kingdom has not become quite as gloomy as the title promises us the fourth attempt, although it is a bit more cloudy compared to the last record. 'Back On The Ground' opens the round with a really cool riff and makes it clear from the start that the sunglasses shouldn't be removed this year either. Here and there a few cool, extravagant solos ('She's In My Blood', 'Hidden In The Shadows'), now and then the dust-drying blues take hold of the reins ('Ruined In Flames', 'Winter'), and when KING MOUNTAIN even looks into the alternative area, that sounds good, as in the case of 'Out In The Cold' with a corresponding Western feeling and the final 'Slaves Of The New World'.
But despite the successful sons-of-anarchy flair, the current pieces also lack that certain something extra, this last decisive impulse to give the music an emphasis. In my "Days Of Redemption" review I spoke about the lack of consistency, which unfortunately runs like a red thread through the nine songs on "Kingdom Of Shadows". Nevertheless, we are once again dealing with a versatile, usually casual and cool blues and stoner rock album, which will provide musical accompaniment to the hopefully golden autumn. It remains to be seen whether we can still enjoy a few more summer rays.
Marcel Rapp / Powermetal.de (September 2021)
One of Greece’s hardest working men is without a doubt Stavos Papadopoulos. Guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, singer, producer, recording engineer, mastering engineer and song writer. His name can be found in relation to bands like Universal Hippies, Hard Driver, Freerock Saints, Super Vintage and Revolution Highway. King Mountain is another one and it rests on the sacred grounds of the hard rocking 70s, with the riff as a word of honor. Stavros is also without a doubt a master in this trade, which he proves again and again. On the album with singer Tania Kikidi, which was released at the same time as this he also delivered a big chunk of great riffs, so I guess his riff account is pretty big. Actually, this album and Tania’s album, aren’t that far apart musically. The biggest difference is in the vocal delivery department, where the vocals here are handled by Stavros himself. If I was to compare this to some contemporary bands, it would probably be The Dead Daisies or Black Country Communion. Hard rock with riffs up front and bluesy vocals to fit the mold. Stavros is a very capable singer who does a great job even if his guitar playing is a few notches better. I truly love his guitar playing, his groove oriented rhythm playing and the bluesy, bleeding solos. King Mountain – check them out!
Janne Stark / Stark Music Reviews (November 2021)
The Greek band KING MOUNTAIN is formed around guitarist/vocalist STAVROS PAPADOPOULOS, bassist JOHN CHRISTOPOULOS and drummer CHRIS LAGIOS, and in 2020 they released their debut, which is now followed up by Kingdom Of Shadows. Musically speaking we are heading into groovy classic rock that is slightly American heavy southern rock orientated, although 70s British Rock influences are also traceable. If you can imagine a mix of LED ZEPPELIN, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, FREE, BLACKFOOT, WHITESNAKE and BADLANDS, then you’re quite close to the fantastic huge sound of KING MOUNTAIN. 9 songs are included, and from start to finish this is how rock music should sound like. Highlights on this new album are the superb WHITESNAKEish Sister Freedom (featuring a wonderful catchy late 80s US Hair Metal ish chorus and lovely soaring shredding guitarwork), the slowtempo Ruined In Flames (combining the elements of classic rock, southern rock, doom/stoner and bluesy heavy rock quite perfectly, like JOE BONAMASSA meets KINGDOM COME), Out In The Cold (another dead ringer for WHITESNAKE fans) Hidden in the Shadows (the ultimate gem for fans of that late 80s groovy American Hardrocksound like TESLA, BADLANDS and GREAT WHITE) and the superb melodic rocking Winter (reminding a lot of BLUE MURDER and WHITESNAKE again, featuring a lovely chorus!). Closing track Slaves of the World is however the finest song, because every music influence is blended perfectly here. This song truly captures the KING MOUNTAIN sound at it’s very best, starting as a pure Southern Rock orientated piece like a mix between BLACK STONE CHERRY, BLACKFOOT and RIVAL SONS, but underneath it also feature the classic (heavy blues) rock essence of FREE/BAD COMPANY/WHITESNAKE, especially during the strong vocalwork and lovely melodic rocking chorus. Without a doubt, this is a killer album that will definitely appeal to all the fans of real classic rock, southern rock and late 80s American Hardrock, so if any of the aforementioned bands is up your alley, then do not hesitate any further and go check out this album!
(Points: 8.7 out of 10)
Gabor Kleinbloesem / Strutter'zine (November 2021)
King Mountain - Kingdom Of Shadows is the second Album released by them on Grooveyard Records and Greek Stoner Revolution Records. What we have here is yet another band fronted by Stavros Papadopoulos who is a creative mastermind for many many bands/projects on these labels. With King Mountain he gets to unleash his hardest of hard rock guitar on the world. Stoner and hard rock turn into a molten mass of rock music to get down to. The songs are all excellent. They do not lack for melody wedged inside the heavy music. As with the first cd released here. Kingdom of Shadows gives the heavy guitar rock fan something to behold. A cool album cover and artwork as always from Nyxian:Drift as well and also like all Grooveyard Records releases the production is top notch.
Gary Milligan / Amazon Review (August 2021)
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