Evermore embracing his role as metal’s drunkest, most foul-mouthed svengali, the latest of Phil Anselmo’s ‘new favourite bands in the world’ – grimy Aussie thrash nuts King Parrot – are currently experiencing the same accelerated career trajectory that the likes of Ghost BC enjoyed before them.
But you don’t get ol’ papa Phil producing your records and turning up in your videos, or European and US tours with Weedeater, if you haven’t got the chops. Despite their schtick of being the sort of band the kids from South Park might form in their adult years, the Melbourne-based quintet don’t just slay, they can fucking play too.
Although syphoning most of their influences from the US thrash and hardcore scenes of the late 80s/early 90s, King Parrot are no nostalgia act, and whilst the likes of Need No Saviour blast fourth like a rat-arsed Sacred Reich mangling some Cro-Mags covers, there’s a unrestrained barbarism at the heart of the likes of Hell Comes Your Way (a firm contender for the title of ‘most sweary lyrics ever’) that is more in the spirit of bands like Pig Destroyer or Insect Warfare than any of the crossover revivalists./o:p
