Doomed Confessionary: Dan Durack (King Zog)
Photos by Caris Bingemann
King Zog’s 2017 debut album inducted a new titan into the underworld of doom – earning unilateral fandom and critical praise for its devotional offering to the gods of metal. Songs like »Temple’s Temple«, »Man-sized Rotisserie« and »Witchsmoker« sounded the way Dominic Sohor’s iconic album artwork looked – fiery and ferocious.
Since the arrival of this musical leviathan, King Zog from Perth, Australia have worked on a tireless mission. The line-up of Daniel Durack (vocals, rhythm guitar), Connor Pitts-West (lead guitar), Martin Gonzalez (bass) and Sean Ryan (drums) haven’t wasted a single day – hunkering down to write album number two during the pandemic and performing relentlessly once the lockdowns lifted.
King Zog have just released their much-anticipated second album »Second Dawn« today, July 31st, 2024 via Rue Morgue Records.
Can you say a few words about your band?
King Zog are a four piece heavy metal band from Perth, in Western Australia. We lean towards traditional doom, but don’t mind switching to a higher gear. Heaviness is everything, but we’re not afraid of being catchy and melodic. Formed in 2013, gigging since 2014.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
I’ve been playing in bands for over 30 years, so at this point it’s got to be 100% fun. I simply enjoy doing this. Gigs, recording. Since the music industry cannibalised itself, music feels like it’s become worthless in some ways. So, the main challenge is getting the music heard. The financial side of recording, producing, pressing and releasing an album has certainly been a challenge. Then, once you’re just about ready to sell your record collection or start living in your car, you get ‘offers’ from certain metal zines, telling you they’ll review your album and interview the band – provided you sling them a couple of hundred Euros for a quarter page ad. Not being made of money is another challenge, I guess!
What can you be most proud of so far?
Releasing two albums and a single that expresses the sort of heavy music that I want to hear. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. A recent proud moment was our local launch show for »Second Dawn«. We had a great night sharing the stage with a bevy of heavy bands, sold a heap of merchandise, and blew the roof off the place.
What was your biggest regret?
My friend and former songwriting partner Vince Radice left the band a couple of years ago. He wasn’t digging what I was writing. We’re still the best of friends, and the new line-up is probably the best we’ve had – but if I have any regrets, then it’s the fact that he chose to leave. There’s no point hanging around if you’re not enjoying yourself, though.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
The launch show I mentioned above felt like a triumph, and a culmination of our hard work (though I don’t really like calling it ‘work’). We arranged for some extra lighting, which looked amazing – psychedelic. We filmed the show so will share the footage once it’s edited.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
I’m rarely surprised to be honest, but there’s a local band called Halo of Teeth who are just amazing (and played at our recent launch). It’s not normally the stuff I go for (Post-Black Metal), but they make music that’s terrifying yet beautiful.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Lately I can’t stop listening to the newest Goat record, »Medicine«. Castle Rat. Occult Witches. A fairly new local band called Bloodwood are excellent, too.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
“Turn the fuck down!” Just kidding. I wish someone had told me to use hearing protection (I have terrible tinnitus).
What are your guilty pleasures?
I don’t feel guilty about too many of my (musical) pleasures! I was listening to Vashti Bunyan (a British folk artist) on the weekend. My wife said “what would Halo of Teeth say if they heard you listening to this?” I said I didn’t care, and meant it. Like a lot of people who love metal I’m into lots of other things too. Sade sits comfortably close to Slayer in my LP collection.
Can you say something more about the music scene in Perth / Western Australia?
Perth has always been a haven for heavy music, though it’s probably mostly known for its pop / psych / power pop side. Empire Of The Sun, Pond and Tame Impala come from this part of the world. But so does Bon Scott. Bands I grew up listening to from here were Allegiance, Storm Of Perversion, Cremator. Now the heavy scene has bloomed and there’s some truly great bands in the doom and stoner genres. A few that spring to mind are Giant Dwarf, Twin Serpents, Neomantra, Witchcliff. The scene is quite small, but supportive. There are a couple of ongoing heavy music festivals held in Perth annually: Armageddoom and Spliffs ‘n’ Riffs. They’ve included bills featuring Acid King, Conan, Black Cobra, Jucifer and Minami Deutsch – plus a heap of cool heavy bands from the east coast of Australia like Iron Blanket, Potion, Dr Colossus and Seedy Jeezus.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We’ve only ever done a mini tour of the east coast, which was fun but financially a complete disaster. You can get touring grants from the government, so I’d like to get my shit together and apply so that we could play some shows in Europe, the UK, the US. Apart from that, we have a few cool shows in our home state coming up, like Dark Down South Open Air Festival later in the year. If we got asked to play in Europe (hint, hint) we’d definitely look into it!
What are your plans for the future as a band?
We want to keep pushing the new LP as hard as we can. Our lead guitarist Connor is a riff machine, so the next LP will be a bit more collaborative. As mentioned we’d love to play some overseas shows, so keep an eye out.
How can people best support your band?
Bandcamp is great. It’s convenient and low-maintenance. The album will be out on all the usual platforms as of tomorrow, July 31st 2024 – but please download it from Bandcamp or order an LP or CD. It all goes into our beer account. Just joking, the money we make goes into an account to fund the next record. That’s the boring but honest answer.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Just a general thank you to the international metal community. It’s like a massive global family. We don’t take any of it for granted. As I mentioned, we try first and foremost to write and release music that we’re proud of. Anyone else who digs it and wants to climb aboard our sleek, black, doom metal raft is most welcome.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well