With deep roots in classic rock and a notable modern touch, the NY-based artist Joe Difonzo shows his talent as he juggles psychedelic rock, progressive metal, stoner, and sludge elements on his solo project King Analog. As he dropped his debut self-titled record on the 26th of March 2023, King Analog will easily hold a spot on your “2023 Favourites” playlist. Let me tell you more about it.
King Analog kickstarted his self-titled record with Transporter, a heavily psychedelic tune with spacey sound and high energy levels. It says a lot about the journey he’s taking us into, with its insanely jazzy interesting drumming and detailed guitar work, in a dynamic changing structure that powerfully progresses into a more extensive and heavier direction that I dig, such a promising start. Overdriver comes next pushing King Analog‘s boundaries further and building on its predecessor’s energy, starting with shreddy effects before exploding with pounding drums, deep-hitting bass, and carefully crafted riffs and guitar melodies that bound it all together in a seamless everchanging flow, all overlapped by subtle “guitar hero” moments that are guaranteed to keep you hooked and entertained till the end. Demonstrating King Analog‘s progressive diverse writing Elixir comes next. It has a slowly cooked buildup that prepares the listener for its relentless progression, taking us on a ride towards a sound that only gets bigger gaining layers and complex arrangements as we move forward. With a strong groove and eargasmic arpeggios, Escape Velocity kicks in before dramatically turning into a bluesy mellow guitar fest. It sounds like King Analog is powerfully mixing diverse sounds and influences in one big fluid structure, playing around and moving from one to the other with intense shifts and an energetic boosting groove. Rain steered the record’s dynamics towards a calmer, more spacious grounds showing the other side of King Analog. Aiming towards a bigger atmospheric sound, it softly guides us with warm chords, emotional melodies, and heart-hitting licks on a dark bittersweet road that helps introduce a different taste to King Analog‘s mix. Lowrider UFO hits next, highlighting King Analog‘s writing and shredding abilities. He opened it with an aggressive bassline setting up the mood before coming at the listener with full force laying some complex riffs and insanely good solos, all in perfect harmony and with a well-arranged flow that made it one of the record’s most enjoyable tunes. Advent X ends the journey with a psychedelic atmospheric mix, it has an open-sounding structure with lots of space to be properly heard and understood, as each line is taking its time to be fully digested and to build up for the next. The mix between the fuzzy and clean guitars created a haunting mood that felt like being absorbed within fluid soundscapes that I wished it never ended.
King Analog‘s self-titled debut says a lot about his solid musicianship and seasoned writing. He cleverly steered among his influences and added his own touch to that unique mix, organically creating something that’s his very own. Looking forward to more from King Analog, keep on rocking. Cheers!
