Kings of Improg - Henosis - 2017

Review by nosMASS https://audioinferno.com/2017/09/11/a...
1. Ferrum
2. Keymaker
3. Gaea
4. Insurgent
5. Enigma
6. Ascension

Henosis is the new full album from Kings of Improg. Kings of Improg is an instrumental progressive rock band hailing from Benoni, on the east of Johannesburg, South Africa. The band has been together since 2012 and blends an eclectic mix of genres from hard alternative rock to progressive metal with blues, jazz & reggae influences, & everything in between, often describing themselves as a progressive psychedelic instrumental blues rock jam band. Henosis is the debut release for KOI, it is a concept album spanning 6 melodic yet hard hitting tracks, voyaging deep into the cavern of the unknown.
The album kicks off with “Ferrum” and the segment in it that would have been where the verses were sang on sounds like it could have made a pretty cool soundtrack for a retro-video game. Specifically an early 90’s side scrolling action/horror type deal. The more energetic part that follows, that could have been the chorus, sounds like a riff that would have been at home in the 80s/90s. And in classic “progressive” style when we approach the half way point of the song things switch up and it almost feels like an entirely different song during that segment. Things do switch back to the 80s/90s-esque riffing about a minute to the end of the song. “Keymaker” comes next and has a harder rock/alternative rock/nu metal feel to its major riffs. Then it hits me as the song goes on. The production, mixing recording….all that jazz, on the album is really well done. The guitars sound distorted the drums sound organic. But it’s all clean and well done.
“Gaea” starts off with some ambient sounds and string picking on a not-distorted guitar. This is followed by one of the Jazziest riffs I have heard in a rock song. The sound was fun and different and cool. And honestly, it’s probably the most memorable song on the album. Falling just a few seconds short of the 8-minute mark, this is one of the longest songs on the album. In fact, it is a long song, PERIOD. But somehow it doesn’t get boring. If you are a fan of rock I think you should give the album a listen, at best it’s a 6 track journey that is longer and richer than some albums that have 10-12 tracks on them. And the song writing is good. At worst…you have an instrumental rock album that is fun to listen to when you reading or doing chores.