Krokodil
About
“MOSTLY BEARDS AND RIFFS…”
That’s the Krokodil modus operandi, according to the band.
Actually, not every one of the six musicians is the guardian of a well-thatched chin, but when it comes to The Riffs… there’s no shortage…
Signed to Spinefarm Records worldwide and featuring members & previous members of Cry For Silence, Hexes, Gallows & SikTh, Krokodil have just put the seal on their debut studio album, set for release this autumn (November 10th in the UK) on CD, double coloured vinyl and download.
With all of the personnel coming complete with ‘other lives’, it’s taken a genuine commitment to the cause to launch something new, plus a collective excitement at what that ‘something new’ might be… in this case, a record that, according to Krokodil guitarist Daniel P Carter of Radio One Rock Show and Hexes repute, “will be the start of something pretty special…”.
Flanking Carter on beards, riffs, rhythms and roars are a choice selection of players whose many and varied abilities to make a glorious racket are already well documented; there’s the SikTh rhythm section of Dan ‘Loord’ Foord (drums) and James Leach (bass); there’s Cry For Silence guitarist, Alessandro Venturella; Laurent Barnard, from the heady world of Gallows; and upfront at the mic, Liber Necris vocalist Simon Wright, the six coming together to create a body of work that succeeds in marrying brutal aggression to haunting melody, heavy groove and coiled-spring dynamics; music that isn’t afraid to (sometimes) take the less travelled path…
‘Shatter’ & ‘Dead Man’s Path’ have already seen the light of day via a limited edition blue vinyl 7” (500 copies hand-numbered by the band), issued in support of Record Store Day, April 2014, and Simon Neil from Biffy Clyro makes a guest vocal contribution; generally, however, the band resisted the urge to pull in friends and famous faces… the plan was always to end up with a cohesive group of songs, and whilst the recording, mixing & mastering (overseen by Steve Sears Jr at Titan Studios in Watford, just north of London) took a while to complete, the result of busy schedules, the final tracks show a clear vision and a direct line of attack.
In other words, it’s 100 per cent Krokodil.
Says Carter, who has also painted the album’s striking artwork: “We wanted it to be crushing, but with distinctive riffs and melodic passages.
“When we were recording vocals, everyone was in the control room, and it ended up with all of us singing in places. I think that gave Simon (Wright) the impetus to try a few things he wouldn’t normally do – especially on tracks like ‘The Collapse’ and ‘Sleep Well, Medusa’. We knew he had the most brutal voice, but there are times when he’s really singing, too…
“When it came to guests for the record, we had a short list of friends who we really respected. Simon (Neil from Biffy Clyro) was one of them. I sent him ‘Sun Riders’ (now agreed as the next single / video), and he sent back the track after he’d recorded his parts with JP Reid from Medals… and it was perfect. It’s made the song for me…”
As with any fiendish plan, it didn’t come together straight away; there was talking and plotting to be done, plus a certain amount of late night drinking. Of course, the trouble with ideas exchanged over a few beers (then a few more), is they can sometimes look a lot less viable in the morning, but in this case the seeds had been well an’ truly sewn…
What followed was selective UK dates to road-test the material they were coming up with, but it was an appearance at the Download festival (2013) that properly lit the fuse – a high-profile launch-point, and a show that made it clear that the chemistry was indeed right; the arrival of an inflatable crocodile onstage and, more significantly, a member of Mastodon wearing a Krokodil shirt, proved that the rock ‘n’ roll grapevine was already a-buzz…
“Yeah, that was the point where we realised we had to stop talking about the band and start being a band,” confirms Carter.
“That’s right, and now Krokodil is a gang!” adds Barnard.
With further UK festival appearances now under their belt, including Sonisphere (July) & Bloodstock (August), Krokodil are ready to take to the road in earnest, and will be guesting with Mastodon on the latter’s European tour in November / December.
And – like the beards – Those Riffs will only be getting bigger…