Kings County – “The Dead of Night”: Facing Your Darkest Thoughts Through Hard Rock
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It’s crazy sometimes our past decisions always comes back to hunt us. You can be moving freely, enjoying the day and then night comes and you try sleeping. Then that’s when your brain decides to take you back, and replay every awkward thing you did in 2012. Then regrets sets in, and your night no longer beautiful again. Orlando hard rock outfit Kings County took that 3:00 AM panic, explores that darker side of the human mind and turned it into an absolute freight train of a track.
The single titled “The Dead of Night” which dropped on the 30th of October, dives straight into the psychological trenches. Now something happened with this track and it’s quite fascinating as I think I think it’s kinda mimics that lonely battles we all face in the night when no one’s watching. They actually tossed out their original music halfway through writing because it lacked bite, then went in again until they achieved this monstrous hard hitting rocker that bites with max force.
Shall we take a look at the instrumentation here? Now I like how this song means business, it doesn’t waste time setting off, right from the start, you’re met with heavy crushing down-tuned guitar work delivered by Steve Bell and Bill Kania, giving the riffs a thick, weighty-hitting punch. Joe Lopez holds down the kit with a massive, driving rhythm section that anchors the groove, while bassist Robbie Dexter locks in right beside him. Then you have frontman Rob Dexter bringing in his fierce, aggressive vocal delivery, channeling a heavy dose of Rob Zombie style attitude to make every line feel right in your face.
I like how the vocals feels commanding, like the hey sit yo ass down type, and endure it, creating a very good atmosphere that never leaves you even when the track stops. I love the blend of 90s hard rock and the modern production approach to the record, it makes it an interesting piece that pierces. Many people may not notice this, but I like the structural balance, though the vocals and guitars are the main focus here, Chuck Alkazian really did great on the production by giving it a strong full bodied feel, yet kept a good balance between weight and melody.
“The Dead of Night” is a very monstrous track that brings its haunting atmosphere and vocals to your face, Rob Dexter did a great job, the way every line carries attitude is amazing. This is a song that looks at our dark side. The lonely battles we fight when we are alone, the amount of time we spend on the bed staring at the ceiling and overthinking everything, dealing with it and waking up the next day to show a different person to the outside world.
Some cry, some even wants to end it, some just can’t even believe in themselves again, because nothing is working for them. But when they wake up, that night experience is dead, they put on a different skin, smile but yet the brain never rest, the thought lingers, evil lurks and you sometimes even begin to question the essence of life. But we survive it, we don’t give in to the misery, we fight our own demons and wake up different and ready to go again. I like how the track treats the dark hours not as an enemy, but as a mirror showing what you are truly made of when there is nowhere left to hide.
It’s a masterpiece of a track, and one you can enjoy and gets attached to even if you’re not a fan. I love the accompanying music video as well, it keeps things focused on the band, using an abandoned citrus mill in Florida as its setting. There’s no complicated storyline to distract from the performance, the industrial location and practical indoor rain sequence add to the dark. Cut down on the overproduced stuffs, and get this rock tune with genuine grit and sweat. Kings County definitely know how to make you growl and sweat, enjoy their performance and come out on top. So go ahead and stream “The Dead of Night“, and understand that sometimes, facing the darkness is the first step towards finding the light.
Enjoyed that and want more from Kings County? Check them out on the links below;
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