It’s been five years since we last heard from Bristol riff factory Gonga, with their album Transmigration from 2008, but now they’re back, having shed singer Joe Volk and the last two bass players, with a new album, Concrescence, out on October 7 on the excellently-named Tonehenge Recordings.
The bonkers text accompanying the announcement should fill in the gaps with what’s happened since then: "Gonga managed to lose/fire/upset every bass player in the region. Brothers Thomas (dramatic battery) and George (riff philosophy) having survived war and mental abuse from the outside world found a new phenomenon walking the golden triangle right in front of their (third) eyes; a specialist in detail – you could say a time-stretch professional. And so, Latch self-sacrificed himself to the group before he even joined; the perfect combination of Geezer Butler and Cliff Burton muttering arcane wisdom.
"A trinity of Earth forms was instantly created; bull, goat, ram. The strength of the triangle allowed the 3 to set about HeavyRock construction. Without singer the aim became to create aural landscapes for band and listener to use as a launchpad for remote viewing, for mental and spiritual enlightenment and for emotional therapy. One could refer to it as instrumental HeavyRock for the philosophical connoisseur."
So now you’re up to speed, wrap your ears around our exclusive first spin of LP cut ‘Tungsten Gold’ below, and stay tuned to the band’s Bandcamp for further updates:
