"Ever the troublemakers, British stoner specialists Groan have announced a few lives dates around the release of their new album, The Divine Right of Kings. The four-piece will unleash the new album, featuring alternate-universe future classics like “How Black was Our Sabbath” and “Let’s Have a Pint at the Crooked Cock,” on Oct. 26 through Soulseller Records, and joining them for the shows will be none other than Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight.
Here are the dates, courtesy of the band:
Tue 23rd Oct Oxford, The Wheatsheaf (support TBC)
Wed 24th Oct Manchester, The Bay Horse (w/Arke)
Thu 25th Oct Sunderland, Venue TBC (w/Witch Charmer + Ashes of Iron)
Sat 27th Oct London, The Black Heart (w/Valve, Crumbling Ghost, Dead Existence)"
via Google translate…
"Groan Britons returning in full force with his new album entitled "The Divine Right of Kings" to be released on October 26 through Soulseller Records label. The Stoner / Doom / Heavy Metal from these guys is really catchy, easy listening rhythms that you are easily in the head.
Riffs contribute to this varied, ranging from the heaviness and slowness of Doom itself to fast most common melody in Rock of decades ago. Nor need these psychedelic touches and the more clasicorro Heavy guitars therein, without being very original, it does make you vibrate to the sound of your chords. Meanwhile, the rhythm section shine with low dominant player and a battery strong and effective.
"The Divine Right of Kings" is a dream job for any self-respecting fan of bands 70 and 80 of Stoner / Doom / Heavy Metal, but especially the faithful will satisfy the most genuine BLACK SABBATH.
Powerplay Magazine...
The press release states that Groan is up-tempo stoner rock. Isn't that an oxymoron? Anyhow… during the third song, entitled "Magic Man", the band's vocalist Mazzereth proudly name checks the likes of Status Quo, Grand Funk, Foghat, CCR and others, but Groan sound absolutely nothing like those great and influential bands. Opener "Weeping Jesus" sounds like a nightmare, while "Sacrificial Virgins" is only slightly better. This is such a bottom-heavy record that it becomes difficult to listen to after a while. When Grand Funk did this kind of stuff back in the late 60s and early 70s, it worked phenomenally well because of bassist Mel Schacher's rumbling yet agile playing; it really anchored Funk's sound. Groan's bassist Leigh Jones' playing is boring, and Groan overall is wickedly average at best with most of the songs sounding identical, almost running into one another. Like one long run-on sentence, "The Divine Right of Kings" is flawed, indecent and nonsensical. Pass!"