King Night (Bonus Track Version)

iTunes Review

The Salem working the levers behind the curtain of this particular recording hail from Michigan (they’re not the Danish rock band, the Israeli metal heads, nor the Swedish pop artist), and sculpt dark, shuddering, pulsating, masses of sound. Some fans excitedly proclaim Salem as purveyors of the newest New Thing (they even have their own new genre tag: “witch,” or “witch house” — did someone say “ghoul-step?”), but newcomers might keep fiddling with the volume in an effort to clean up the trebly sludge. The underlying layer of grit and fuzz provides a bed for brittle electronic percussion and keening synthesizers; in the title track’s case, it also underlies the surprising interjection of an airy chorus singing “O Holy Night.” There are flutters of conga drums, sparking metal hammers, tranced-out vocal mutterings, and grainy, muffled laughter; corroded vocals are slowed and distorted, or drawl Southern rap. The single “Frost” is chilling and beautiful with its glitchy stuttering, vaporous vocals and warped, glacial synths. King Night is indeed a New Thing, and a compelling one at that.