Candlelight Records

Blood of Kingu is, to put it simply and inaccurately, Drudkh without the folk atmosphere. This is because the entire band is made up of Drudkh band members. You could say it's just Drudkh playing a different form of black metal, which is what I'll say. Half the band was also in the mighty black metal band Hate Forest. This half I'll also refer to as the Roman half, since that's the name of both of these men. It's not totally correct to say that Blood of Kingu sounds like a mix between Drudkh and Hate Forest, but to some extent that is accurate.  

Roman Saenko is on vocals in Blood of Kingu, and thus you will hear Hate Forest in these vocals -- the earth-shattering roars of some ancient kind of horror and blasphemy, a truly unique voice in metal and among my favorite vocalists. The man sounds nothing like anyone else in black metal, or anyone else in metal for that matter. His unmistakable beastly, guttural vocals are not the kind of vocals that make one envision a man trying his hardest to be "brutal", but it is a voice of genuine evil and rancor. 

Song titles suggest Lovecraft themes, though it's impossible for me to tell if this is accurate since I can't find the lyrics anywhere. The liner notes say that the album is in memory of H.P. Lovecraft, though, so I think my theory is valid. The atmosphere and feel of Lovecraft's masterful work could find no better musical vessel to give it life than Blood of Kingu, with the esoteric, aggressive yet atmospheric wailing that Blood of Kingu has created, bringing to mind imagery and essences of hateful cosmic voids and primordial chaos linked with the harshest unfathomable truths of reality.

Musically this is a blend of Hate Forest, with aggressive and fast paced black metal, and Drudkh, with atmosphere, though more harsh and cataclysmic than  Drudkh's works typically are. Guitars are clear but with the same tone evident in Hate Forest and Drudkh's music, with a sort of muddy, ethereal quality that gives depth and extra-dimensionality to the riffs. Rarely used, but certainly present are the occasional instrumental interlude or moment of reprieve, which only supplies tension and a flow into the next song.

Sun in the House of the Scorpion is a victory of black metal and is a continuation of the superb musical output of Team Drudkh/Hate Forest/Blood of Kingu. The Romans have succeeded in another high work of art and metal excellence. 

9.0/10