It feels as though Australia is the flavour of the month in the basement of doom because the randomizer has yet again thrown up another antipodean delight in the form of the awesome Twelve Foot Ninja and their latest album. Tinged with a bit of sadness it has to be said that they are on indefinite hiatus. To call them a metal band does not remotely do them justice, as every genre known to man is put in the mixing bowl of delights and the most amazing combinations are dished up.
This album is a concept album. It is a companion piece to fantasy novel The Wyvern And The Wolf. If one track on this album sums them up, it’s IDK. You go from crushing metal riffs and grooves to Hip Hop, reggae, funk, and pop all wrapped up in one little parcel. One of the reasons this works so well is the vocalist, Kim Etik. He has a unique tone to his voice where he can basically sing the phone book and it would sound amazing, and that suits this band so well.
The track Gone starts like a smooth jazz pop tune and explodes into a killer track that would sit well in any top ten pop charts. I’m really struggling to pick a favourite tune from this stunning piece of wax but for today (and maybe just today) I’m going with opening tune Start The Fire. Lots of low end chunk and groove mixed with electronic pop beauty. You’d think that wouldn’t work but it’s so good and an epic way to open the album.
I love the album and I love the band. And yes, everyone should own one.
10/10 from The Grooveman.
