King In Yellow returns with another fine piece of sonic artistry that will unquestionably appeal to anyone looking for wisely arranged and flawlessly performed music. This time, they offer “Dark Passengers,” a marvelous extended play stacked with four incredible tracks. Inspired by new wave music and horror, their music also tackles themes of alienation, loss, and light that shines between the dark clouds. For those who missed our previous articles about this incredible band, King In Yellow combines various music genres to illustrate luxuriant sonic imagery. Therefore, don’t be surprised if you stumble upon some of the finest properties borrowed from post-punk, goth rock, art-rock, darkwave, new wave, shoegaze, alternative, and indie. With an entire amalgam of various styles at their disposal, King In Yellow skillfully experiment with their sound while remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction that defined their songs on previous recordings. Therefore, “Dark Passengers” Will unquestionably appeal to even the pickiest post-punk fans and beyond.
With the initial notes and beats, it becomes apparent that King In Yellow poured heart and soul into this EP. Each composition showcases a natural progression of an already incredible band, as they deliver some of the finest vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuvers. The attention to detail invested in every segment of each song goes beyond comprehension, proving their dedication to the craft. You’ll undoubtedly notice how each song arrives with a carefully composed structure, adorned with many intricate segments and marvelous orchestrations. This epic material commences with “Lucid Dream,” a perfect opener that demonstrates all the qualities of this incredible band. You’ll immediately hear how the guitar interplay shapes such a lush ambiance that serves as an adequate backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. The rhythm guitar delivers powerful chord progressions and riffs while the lead guitar shines with so many catchy, memorable, engaging, melodies, harmonies, and other sonic maneuvers. They applied generous servings of distortion, reverb, and chorus over the guitars, making this song such a pleasant listening experience. The vocals perfectly suit these guitar works while commanding attention and guiding the listening apparatus through each section. There are subtle dosages of reverb applied over these harmonies, so they match the song’s aesthetics flawlessly. In the meantime, the rhythm section binds everything together, keeps all the instrumentations in line, and provides more than necessary groove and dynamics. Such an incredible opener that demonstrates what you might expect from the remainder of the material.
King in Yellow’s tremendous songwriting and composing abilities are vividly hearable in the title track. It’s nearly mindblowing how they fully stacked this track with so many mindblowing instrumentations and brilliant ideas. “Dark Passangers” commences with excellent, punchy basslines, signifying a dark, gothy, downtempo track. However, the remainder of the band joins this sonic equation, offering more marvelous vocal, sonic, and rhythmic acrobatics. The impressive vocal range seamlessly balances low, mid, and high notes, emphasizing everything the remainder of the band tried to achieve with this track. The guitars deliver that slow, dark, eerie, arpeggiated chord progression, heavily drenched in chorus and reverb effect. You’ll notice how intricate, audible, warm-sounding low-ends roar beneath all those guitar works, providing more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth while binding everything together. The experienced drummer skillfully transits between half-time and moderate beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics while keeping all the instrumentations in line. It’s a perfect composition that evokes goth rock and post-punk nostalgia. “Hand In Fan” is one of the standouts of this material, showcasing King In Yellow’s ability to write and compose complex post-punk songs where multiple guitar layers resonate with such power, precision, and finesse. The comprehensive collection of arpeggiated and regular chord progressions, harmonies, melodies, themes, and other sonic delicacies define this exceptional song while the rhythm section offers tremendous groove and dynamics. This particular track is slightly faster, aggressive, and raw compared to the remainder of the material, but it still retains those calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal orchestrations King In Yellow are known for. They close this epic EP release with “Desire Path,” another impressive composition where reverby chord progressions and riffs collide with catchy themes, melodies, and harmonies, creating such a colossal, heavy yet ear-appealing ambiance. It’s one of those tracks where the band introduces some experimentations, so you’ll stumble upon many noisy sonic maneuvers and nearly jazzy drum fills. It’s a perfect closure of such an impressive material that will undoubtedly resonate with post-punk fans and beyond.
King In Yellow crafted another masterpiece. “Dark Passengers” contains everything you dearly love about post-punk, goth rock, darkwave, new wave, and shoegaze sound, but this material will also appeal to all the newbies to these music genres as well. With their impressive songwriting abilities and exceptional musicianship, these folks showcase all their experience, knowledge, skills, talent, and ideas, proving they’re one of the most exciting post-punk bands on the contemporary music scene. You should immediately place “Dark Passengers” on your music radar. Don’t miss it!
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