I was debating prefacing this post with my rampant love for Cape Town’s Wildernessking but if you’ve been reading Metal4Africa.com for the past few years you would already know the deal. I’m of the opinion that they’re one of the best bands to come out of South Africa, or Africa in recent times and if I had my way I’d just post about them exclusively all the time! I’m this close to checking myself into to fanboy rehab.
On Sunday the band released “Kings”, their contribution to the multi-national Elemental Nightmares project; a limited collection of seven 10″ vinyl splits featuring four bands per album. Wildernessking graces the first release alongside Oak Pantheon (USA), Kess’khtak (Geneva) and Liber Necris (UK) giving this split plenty of flavour across the black and death metal spectrum.
I’m especially impressed that “Kings” open the proceedings of the Elemental Nightmares collection, a testament to the quality and energy of Wildernessking‘s music. The track is upbeat, something not often felt with black metal and a massive bone of contention for the purists out there, but there is always something dark and sinister lurking underneath. In this case, Jason Jardim’s drumming and Keenan Oakes’ vocals do well to offest the almost cheery, melodic guitars of Jesse Vos and Dylan Viljoen. All of these elements combine to create a sonic whirlwind that cements the band as “kings” of the South African black metal underground!
Stream “Kings” by Wildernessking below and check out Elemental Nightmares here!
