Kind – Close Encounters
The Boston based Kind formed in 2013. The band is a super group of sorts featuring former Elder drummer Matt Couto, former Milligram, Hackman, Roadsaw , Black Pyramids, Slapshot, The Scimitar, and Blackwolfgoat, guitarist Darryl Shepard, former Rozamov bassist Tom Corino, and current Sasquatch (drummer), Roadsaw vocalist, Craig Riggs on the microphone. Close Encounters was released on August 11th, 2023 and is the band’s third release on Ripple Music. The record features nine songs and is just under 49 minutes long. The other two Kind recordings are their 2015 debut Rocket Science and the sophomore Mental Nudge, released in 2020.
“Burn Scar” hits hard like a fist to the face. The music pummels right from the start and takes no prisoners. The off set riff is nasty in its own right but the echoey backing vocals make it more brooding. The almost shouting vocals of Riggs gives the song a meanness about it and starts the record off with a punch. The second song “Favorite One” is a seven minute heavy barrage of doom rock goodness. Kind has a great capacity to go from straight out rock to sludgy doom. Aside from the devastating guitar riffs from Shepard, Riggs adds some great singing that fits the song nicely. “Black Yesterday” is next and starts with distorted bass and some guitar flourishes. The riff kicks in and it’s another slower, heavier, and doomy classic. More great vocals accompanying the music and the guitar lead melodies playing to the main riff are excellent too. The band picks up the pace on the next few tracks. “Snag” is a mid tempo rocker with a strong chorus and “Massive” is a heavy rocker’s wet dream. The opening riff is indeed, massive! Darryl starts the song with the guitar riff and then it all kicks in. One of my favorites from the record. Riggs displays another great vocal delivery on this one. “Power Grab” goes right into it and continues to rock like the others. The band incorporates more backing vocals on the chorus parts too. In fact, a lot of the songs on Close Encounters utilize backing vocals which is cool and adds another element to the songs. The record’s seventh track “Of The Ages” has a little slower vibe to it but continues to drive the heaviness throughout. Another stand out song for me is the next one entitled “What It Is To Be Free.” This rocking number has a good groove to it and when Riggs sings “yeah!!” then you know it’s going down. The nice flow of the riffs gets the head bobbing. Darryl’s leads are nice and noisy (in a good way!) Finally, the record closes out with “Pacino,” a repetitive driving number that keeps the rock a rolling. The riff changes with subtle differences as the song moves along.
Kind really enhanced the heavy doom on the Mental Nudge record and has a good taste of it here, especially on some of the earlier tracks. However, the more heavy rocking songs really carry this album into a top release for me for 2023. The band play very well together with Shepard’s trademark guitar riffs and leads to the excellent rhythm section displayed by bassist Corino and drummer Couto. Riggs adds such great vocals and melodies with his voice and everything just fits together as a whole. Each recording has showcased a linear progression in their sound and context. It will be interesting to hear where Kind will go with their next release.
https://kindrocks.bandcamp.com
