King Parrot

After brutalising the country with their EP The Stench of Hardcore Pub Trash, Melbourne’s purveyor all that is extreme return with their debut full length, Bite Your Head Off.

Clocking in at about 23 minutes, King Parrot do not mess around, going for the throat – or in this instance, the head – from the get go. Musically the band is a mixture of grind, thrash and punk, a powerful mix that will get heads banging and bodies slamming.

Adding to the sound is Youngy’s hateinfused vocals, which both bludgeon and amuse, giving King Parrot an intensity lacking in many bands of this ilk. - Stack

Yeah, it’s all part of a day’s work really, eating a little shit whilst jumping off bars”.

By now; unless you have been held captive by a family of rabid raccoons, it is all about King Parrot and if you have been fortunate enough to catch these monsters live, you know that your experience heading to any future gig will be forever measured against the antics of this band. It is with this amount of enthusiasm, their uniqueness and lunacy that is drawing the crowds in for King Parrot – constantly giving memorable shows and endorphin busting interaction with the crowds. Youngy’s bruises and scars aside, it is all worth it he tells Metal As Fuck as we caught up with the vocalist after departing a gig.

It wasn’t long before we were getting stuck into the mammoth national touring schedule King Parrot are currently executing “We have just being playing flat out, touring with Thy Art Is Murder and Cattle Decapitation, before that Psycroptic, and recently we had just picked up a bunch of shows with Destroy All Lines, it’s just been insane”. After recently snagging the support for Kvelertak, there seems to be no signs of stopping “We have a heap more shows coming up; Perth, Cairns, Townsville, then we head back down to Melbourne for Heavy Mag’s Brewtaility, then hopefully we have a month off to maybe start writing a little. December we head back out with a national tour with Gay Paris”. I caught Gay Paris not long ago in Canberra, the band is unreal – I didn’t know what to think of them at first, a mate of mine says to me oh come see this band Gay Paris. [Laughs] “Yeah I was the same, I was like Gay Paris, oh I’m going to fucking hate it, but seriously they are unreal, I fucking love them, not what you expect at all”.

During your crazy touring cycle have there been any moments that have stood out, or more importantly have there been any embarrassing moments that we’d all love to hear about? “Geez, wow, well there have been so many, it’s sort of a constant thing with us [Laughs]. Well there was this one time….. We were playing a show at this club called Bang in Melbourne not long ago, sort of like a teeny bopping kind of deal, you know, those clubs that play live heavy metal acts but then shoot Blink 182 over the booth afterwards [Laughs] It was a rough show [Laughs] but I climbed up on top of the bar and there were a bunch of people watching; I couldn’t tell how into it they were. I stage dived anyway, straight off the bar into the crowd and they weren’t too keen on catching me….. I ate shit [Laughs] - it happens regularly. It has also brought about an old elbow injury that is quite fucking painful” [Laughs] perhaps you should hire some minions to follow you around with an old mattress or something? “Yeah, it’s all part of a day’s work really, eating a little shit whilst jumping off bars”. So who usually plays mother hen on tour? “Generally that would be me, I’m the sober one so I’ll be dragging the guys out of bars and pushing them into taxis. Our new drummer Skitz also so that’s one less to worry about”.

I was lucky enough to catch you guys live in June with Cattle Decapitation, I knew I was in for something amazing as I had just reviewed the album, a gazillion gold stars were given. King Parrot are brilliant live, you have such an amazing vibe going on, with the crowds eating this up – what are some of your favourite moments from the audience whilst playing live? “The all ages shows are insane, we get them to do the wall of death, so we part them, while I am standing right in the middle and they steam roll right over me, it fucking hurts [Laughs] we do a lot of stupid shit to entertain people. We want our shows to be fun, there are enough serious bands out there, don’t get me wrong we are serious about the band but we want to have fun with the audience, since the release of the album; the last six months we’ve had a good response from the album and good reception from the audience”.

I understand you guys have recently wrapped up your first Asian tour also “Yeah April this year, our first time over there, it was a very eye opening experience. It was crazy playing for the kids over there; nothing could prepare us for the appreciation that was shown to us from the punters. Indonesia specifically has really only recently been authorised I guess to listen to heavier music, have it played live, a new Government who isn’t as strict is now in, so it was definitely a new environment, it has been one of the best things the band has ever done, I mean obviously we want to head overseas more; Europe and the US but I mean we will definitely head back to Asia as soon as we can”. Clearly the first thing that comes to mind is not being home, but what is one of your least favourite things about being on tour? “I guess it would have to be Squiz’ snoring, it’s the fucking worst, he sounds like a freight train. So I’m trying to work out a way of dealing with that [Laughs] It just sucks when you’re in some slimy hotel r - Metal As Fuck

In no time at all King Parrot took the stage. They took perhaps 5 minutes to check their sound, and what a monstrous performance they put up. Right from the word go they absolutely smashed it! High pitch screaming from the vocalist, extreme riffs and overall they were a loud and hectic band! The vocalist Youngy is one crazy man who was feeling the music, banging his head, walking through the crowd and yelling in people’s faces!

Everyone had a massive smile while these guys were on. The vocalist also jumped off the bar, and pretty much landed on my head. Good riffs, extreme sounds, definitely a band to watch out for if you are into extreme death metal with a grind influence. Ended their set with the awesome Shit on the Liver. Catch them on tour with Psycroptic soon! - Chaos Cartel

The best way to describe King Parrot would be to advise you to go and watch them live. When I saw them the first time on the Thy Art is Murder + Cattle Decapitation tour, they completely blew my mind. They have some face melting music and what makes them stand out is their energy and stage presence. Vocalist Matt Young is psychotic. Prior to getting on stage he was all calm, mingling with the crowd at the merch table but on stage he has a completely different personality. My words might be wrong, but later that night Jason from Psycroptic called him “a fucking lunatic”. The entire band is crazy but especially the bassist who engaged the crowd with some hilarious comments. There was also lots of pushing and shoving and spitting among the band members which made their stage presence hilarious. Musically, lots of energy, lots of pounding, incredibly tight, and vocals which pierce your ears. You simply have to watch them live and you will love them, even if the music is not exactly your thing. I highly recommend checking these guys out. - The Metal Forge

Kvelertak, King Parrot
Corner Hotel
17 September, 2013

King Parrot are riding a wave generated by regular touring and their amusing and excellent video for Shit On The Liver (check it out on YouTube right now if you haven’t already). They play to an almost-full room, which is an impressive feat for a support band, especially at a weeknight gig. Livewire frontman Matt Young roams the crowd atop an assistant’s shoulders during Bozo and likes to get up close and personal with the crowd and involve them throughout the set. The band includes several local scene veterans and their experience shows as they play hard and tight, reeling out grindcore riffs with speed and precision as Young screams, wails and gnashes his teeth, weaving around the stage and crowd.

The reaction to King Parrot from Kvelertak fans who roll up early is equal parts shock and enthusiasm, one bewildered punter at the bar overheard saying “Who the hell is this?” while wearing a grin from ear to ear. He’s just one of the new fans King Parrot pick up tonight with an energetic and brutal performance that somehow manages to make grindcore sound catchy. - The Music

If Frankenbok had got the metal fans going, then it was surely Melbourne grind act King Parrot that stole the hearts and minds of the headbanging faithful, with their impetuous and unadulterated sound pulverising those who dare to bear witness. In support of their aptly titled debut album Bite Your Head Off, this motley crew of the deep bring their uncompromising and profanity laden live show to the Cherry Bar stage. With vocalist Matt Young seeing into the souls of anyone within an eyeshot with his crazy eyes, the band tear though an archaic set. During ‘Blaze In The Northern Suburbs’, Young comes perilously close to being decapitated after a shoulder ride on Frankenbok guitarist Aaron Butler’s shoulders saw him come inches short of the ceiling fan, while ‘Shit On The Liver’ and ‘Dead End’ continue the belligerent assault on the senses that only ceases after the band leave the stage. - Faster Louder

A bludgeoning masterpiece

Several words come to mind when listening to a release like this. Words like gnarly, raw, brutal, frenzied and more. This is music that you can imagine serial killers doing their grisly work to.

Having said that, this is no mindless punk/thrash release. There is actually a bit of nous behind what this Melbourne five piece are doing and a mastery of a number of different styles within the extreme music spectrum.

So much so, that they are actually a little difficult to categorise, for those to whom such things are important, and the term ‘extreme music’ is the only term that feels appropriate. This is far too broad these days of course, so what to do? Let’s look at it more closely.

King Parrot are about as extreme as you can get whilst remaining (somewhat!) coherent, but they are kinda too punky to be considered grindcore. At the same time, they are far too brutal to be a punk band. Punk/thrash maybe? Not really, for sometimes their music actually has a very nice groove to it, amid the frenzy. I think we need to simply stick with extreme heavy music.

The album is a vicious collection of 11 songs, but it whizzes past and is done in EP time (22 minutes). Do the maths, that’s two minutes a song. And that’s absolutely acceptable for music like this, too much could cause a severe migraine/aneurysm/ seizure. Indeed, it could very well bite your head clean off.

Even more than that though, these guys know precisely what they are doing. It is a calculated piece of extreme art, with strong musicianship and a production job skilfully left just on the right side of raw and dirty. And the insane vocals of leader screamer Matt Young are just plain throat rippingly scary.

Be warned, this is not music for the faint of heart. This album is a very nasty piece of work, and that’s exactly how they like it. - The Metal Forge

A bludgeoning masterpiece

Several words come to mind when listening to a release like this. Words like gnarly, raw, brutal, frenzied and more. This is music that you can imagine serial killers doing their grisly work to.

Having said that, this is no mindless punk/thrash release. There is actually a bit of nous behind what this Melbourne five piece are doing and a mastery of a number of different styles within the extreme music spectrum.

So much so, that they are actually a little difficult to categorise, for those to whom such things are important, and the term ‘extreme music’ is the only term that feels appropriate. This is far too broad these days of course, so what to do? Let’s look at it more closely.

King Parrot are about as extreme as you can get whilst remaining (somewhat!) coherent, but they are kinda too punky to be considered grindcore. At the same time, they are far too brutal to be a punk band. Punk/thrash maybe? Not really, for sometimes their music actually has a very nice groove to it, amid the frenzy. I think we need to simply stick with extreme heavy music.

The album is a vicious collection of 11 songs, but it whizzes past and is done in EP time (22 minutes). Do the maths, that’s two minutes a song. And that’s absolutely acceptable for music like this, too much could cause a severe migraine/aneurysm/ seizure. Indeed, it could very well bite your head clean off.

Even more than that though, these guys know precisely what they are doing. It is a calculated piece of extreme art, with strong musicianship and a production job skilfully left just on the right side of raw and dirty. And the insane vocals of leader screamer Matt Young are just plain throat rippingly scary.

Be warned, this is not music for the faint of heart. This album is a very nasty piece of work, and that’s exactly how they like it. - The Metal Forge

KING PARROT – BITE YOUR HEAD OFF

Over the years, the general public have made numerous misconceptions about fans of heavy metal music. These judgements range dramatically from band members and fans being involved in satanic cults, through to metal music being the cause of violence and and mass murder across the world. As anyone involved with anything to do with metal would tell you, these crazy judgements are obviously all complete rubbish, and fans and band members are generally some of the nicest humans you will encounter. While this public perception is a bit ridiculous, there are a few bands that don’t mind pushing some boundaries, even if it is for a bit of fun to see what they can get away with. King Parrot are one of these bands, and while they might not take everything completely serious, Bite Your Head Off is a seriously awesome debut album.

King Parrot have been impressing fans all over the country for a long time now, and after waiting, and waiting for a full length release from the guys, the wait is now over. Bite Your Head Off encapsulates everything that this band is about. The tracks are short, fast and brutal, and for everyone that sat back and basked in the glory that was 90s metal, this is an album that will have you seriously contemplating growing out your hair, and heading out to buy some new camo shorts. The raw and aggressive sound that these guys have managed to capture sticks everything that the band has out there in one mad and chaotic whirlwind of violence, yet when you are done listening, you are left asking to be assaulted again. Tracks like Shit on The Liver, and Bozo prove to be highlights of the release for us showcasing the bands ability to throw in various elements from their genre, all while putting their own raw and dirty spin on everything.

These days you can’t go to a metal show anywhere in the country without seeing a few King Parrot shirts floating around the place, and with good reason. King parrot have managed to put together one hell of a debut release that has already impressed everyone that has heard it, and those who have been lucky enough to experience the band live know that they are a force to be reckoned with once their walk onto stage. If you like your metal raw, aggressive, and leaving you like you’ve just been king hit, you need to hear this band. - www.chuckingamosh.com

For those who even have a small interest in the Australia metal scene have heard the echoes of the band known as King Parrot. This is pure extreme metal but you don't have to be a diehard grindcore or death metal fan to see what makes this band so great. Fronted by a rather non frightening looking Youngy, but the moment he starts to rampage through songs like Bozo and Dead End you begin to see the psychopath emerge. Backed by a band which provides listens with riff after riff after riff of pure heavy and in your face metal.

When you listen to the album there isn't one or two tracks that jump out at you like with most albums. Bite Your Head Off is a solidly written album with no filler tracks. From start to finish this album delivers and checks off all your needs for a fun head-banging time. The dynamic shifts and endless riff carnage show the creatively of the band. The riffs aren't your usually death metal style either, this sets King Parrot apart from many bands straight away. The drummer, Skitz, doesn't just play blast beats throughout the whole album. Instead, he uses creative fills and rarely repeats himself on the album. The tracks on the album flow really well together which makes listening to the album really easy and very enjoyable, you just start at Bozo and finish at Sandy. Song wise they're all the same style so there are no curveballs in the mix, the album is brutal and as intense throughout.

The highlight of the album and the standout performance has to be Youngy's deliverance of the vocals. Vocalists will always have the spotlight in any band but to hear someone with such a strong performance on an album is rare. His vocals also have no effects put on them, therefore they have a very live feel to them. So judging by what I've heard about Youngy's stage performance and the vocals on the album I'm going to have to say that he is currently one of Australia's best frontmen!

I suggest this album as a must for any fans of Australian metal or extreme metal, it really is up there with some of the most extreme bands! King Parrot are also a must see band, it is no wonder they were chosen to support Thy Art is Murder on their last Australian tour. So next time King Parrot decide to demolish your city or town or suburb, get in there carnage and help them.

-- Adam Orlowski - www.metal-roos.com.au

Meet “King Parrot” an Australian based Metal/Grind/Thrash band. These guys are very hardcore and amazingly fast. King Parrot shows such music diversity with mixed genres which truly show their talent as musicians. Vocalist “Matthew Young” shows his amazing abilities as a vocalist in full control of his talents in their music, while keeping to the extreme changes within the songs. These guys are one tight group, I guess you’d call this group “Flawless”. King Parrot is setting up for some big tour dates to come which you can find details on this on their sites below, I honestly might need to go to one of these dates.

It’s not often that we get to write about groups like “King Parrot” due to their genre, not many groups can truly keep up; also in this specific genre class the musician pool is quite small. Performing music with changes such as King Parrot does is quite difficult, and very hard to find a group that can pull it together as well as this group. We can’t wait to see more come out of these guys, as their efforts and talent are just satisfying to say the least. Impeccable drums, sick and quick guitar changes and riffs, the bassist is keeping things pulled nicely together and to top things off with Matthew’s vocal talents, what more could anyone ask for.

Check out King Parrot as they progress in the music industry around the world, and we wish them the biggest success in their efforts. - woodbangers.com