Metallica meets Parliament, it's King Hell —
the Epic Defenders of Metal!

With dual, dynamo front-men, epic guitar, and earthquake inducing bass and drums, King Hell's groove-infused, classic metal with a punk twist and relentless live show come with a money-back guarantee to tear the roof off the joint, burn the house down, and make audiences dance 'round the flames. Following their critically lauded full-length release Rhythm & Bruise, three EPs timed to drop this year are sure to make good on their sworn, solemn vow to deliver pure rock ecstasy wherever it is needed.

Doc Thompson, co-vocalist Samwell, and guitarist Motherfökker began playing as teenagers in Cambridge MA, sharing a strong affinity for old-school metal, early funk and classic punk. "Initially, we bonded over Black Sabbath and Metallica," relates Samwell. "Then we discovered the groove of Parliament/Funkadelic, which blew our exceedingly white minds, and dovetailed with metal perfectly. We also go turned on to hardcore punk like the Bad Brains and the Misfits, which inspired our live ethic of rock-’til-ya-drop--either of exhaustion, or from significant injury."

Relocating to New York, the members formed King Hell. "We were originally called Longinus, but everyone thought that was a venereal disease, which is metal but not in a good way." To complete the band, new drummer Shille-Lee and bassist Zigabot were brought on board. While both were well versed in funk and classic metal, Shille-Lee also drummed for seminal '80s hardcore outfit The Abused and Zigabot had played in death metal bands. "They were the perfect compliment. They could groove and pound like demons, but when we wanted to step on the gas they were capable of going absolutely ape shit."

Another significant addition to King Hell was the element of an electric, theatrical stage show. "People long for bands like Queen and Kiss because they were larger than life. Plugging into that was liberating. At some point rock got really self-conscious. We're confident enough in the quality of our music to embrace carnival." Inspired in equal parts by The Misfits and Parliament, a concept for a rogue team of rock avengers emerged. "It started under control, but by our second show Doc was in a zoot suit waving a Tommy gun around and I was standing on a horned anvil in Batman's pants."

After releasing their debut EP in 2007 on Seventh Level Records, the band began building a strong following throughout New York, quickly branching out to play shows across New England and the Tri-State area. A year and a half of steady gigging culminated in shared bills with reunited schlock rockers Green Jelly and an opening spot on their heroes’ the Misfits 30th anniversary show before 1,000 people. Playing with costumed bands became something of a theme. "If you look weird, we've probably played with you."

Towards the end of 2008, the band hunkered down to begin work on their first full-length recording, Rhythm & Bruise, a 13 song maximum effort released in October of 2009 "We pushed ourselves to write songs that spanned everything we could do then, from Swedish metal, to heavy funk. What ties it together as King Hell music is a focus on rhythm and melody." To capture the broad spirit of the new material, the band signed on with engineer and co-producer Sal Mormando, whose diverse resume spanned work with hard rock bands like Clutch, to a Grammy nominated CD by jazz artist Raphael Cruz. Rhythm & Bruise's lyrics were similarly varied in content and style. "'Brooklyn' tells the story of the band in a poetic way… and then there's 'Retarded Forces of Doom’." In support of Rhythm & Bruise, King Hell continued broadening their reach in 2010, including playing three headlining shows at South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Texas and at the International Millennium Music Conference in Pennsylvania. Regionally, they landed appearances at the Gramercy Theater and the Highline Ballroom in New York City, and a showcase at Six Flags New Jersey. The band are now deeply immersed in the writing and recording process for three EPs, planned for release through the summer of 2012. "The new songs continue our tradition of power and groove, but we’re incorporating even heavier elements, and also branching off into punk. You'll go from shaking your ass, to banging your head, to beating the bejeezus outta people in a pit, in 10 minutes flat. That’s the rich metal goulash that is King Hell… yes, that entire quote was an excuse to use the term ‘metal goulash’."