King Kraken Part One. It’s the end of a gloriously sunny day in South Wales. The sun dips across the rolling hillsides of the valleys where King Coal once ruled. A land steeped in history and mythology. Where the fire of the dragon still glows in the dark, and the voices of thousands still unite. The land of song indeed. These days, there is something else rumbling away across the Land Of My Fathers. It is more of the nautical persuasion, though, and in another three weeks, that rumble will become a roar.
The dragon has been challenged by the Kraken, but not the legendary Scandinavian Sea monster. This beast is the ten-legged, ten-armed Heavy Metal music machine that has slowly built momentum, not just amongst the towns and cities of this great country but across the borders, forging new alliances with the Celts of the North, the Londoners and those in the South. In fact, across most of the United Kingdom.
We are three weeks away from the release of March Of The Gods, the second album by King Kraken. No better time then, to catch up with three members of the band: Drummer Richard Lee Mears, bassist Karl Meyer and vocalist Mark O’Donoghue (the band is completed by guitarists Adam Healey and Pete Rose).
Over the course of 80 minutes, we explore their rollercoaster 2024, dip back into the history books, and salivate with anticipation about the forthcoming chaos of the next six to eight months. There is a lot to discuss. Here is Part One.
As 2023 flipped into 2024, we arrived at the one-year anniversary of the band’s first album MCLXXX. Little did we know how 2024 would unfold. A headline slot at Station 18 Festival, festival appearances at Bloodstock and Hellarocks, several UK shows, as well as support slots with Florence Black and Evil Scarecrow, to name just two.
Vocalist Mark begins. “I think a year ago, we were planning. We knew we needed to put something out in the bag for Station 18. We knew that we had to make our mark on that festival and that’s when we had the insanity of all the balloons and that balloon drop. I think a lot of people will remember that gig for quite a while for that. It was only balloons, but it was something special.”
“Getting the headline slot,” drummer Rich continues, “we just knew that we needed to make sure that we put on the best show that we could at the time. We went all out, just to make an impression and to show that for the gigs coming afterwards, we deserved to be there”.
“That was our first headline festival slot,” Karl says. “We needed to make an impression.” By the time King Kraken were headlining Station 18, they already had Scream, the opening track from March Of The Gods finished.
But there was plenty of fine-tuning, as Rich admits that when they played it at Hanger 18, it was “too straight.” At this stage, there was no a plan as such, except that they knew they had to release the second album. “We released in ’23, we had the year of gigging and trying to progress up the ladder. We knew what we needed to do in ’25. We knew we needed new music.
“You know, today is sort of sad. People forget about you too quick. So, we were definitely hatching a plan. I think the actual plan for March Of The Gods came probably in March or April. I think we actually said, right, together we’ve got half an album here. We knew that it was good. We all feel this is better than the first album. I mean, at that point, we mainly knew what we wanted the album to sound like, and where we wanted to go with it. And luckily, now, we’ve achieved everything that we wanted to achieve for March Of The Gods.”
It has certainly been a rollercoaster ride, with another single, the title track released this morning and the album a mere three weeks away.
But alongside this, the band have two huge shows at Stonedead Festival and the recently announced Bloodstock Winter Gathering at KKs Steel Mill in December. But that’s not all. “We’ve got loads of other stuff in the pipeline,” Mark says, “and the album is the best we could have put together. We learned a lot with our first album, you know.
“We knew what we wanted to do in comparison to the first album to be at this point now, where we are looking forward because the whole year is basically planned out now. It’s been a little whirlwind, but it’s also come about easily as well. Which is mad.”
It is evident that the shift has been more of people asking King Kraken to play, rather than the other way round. A big part of that has been the guidance of Ceri Davies, their manager, who has been on board for the past two years.
With many years of experience in the business, Ceri (Grumpy Clown Events) has been a steadying hand. “He still has a lot of influence,” Mark says. “It’s not like everything just gets put on our doorstep now. Ceri still gets involved with a lot of people. But I’m also saying that it is swinging more towards us just being asked as well. Yes, Sir. It’s a bit of a mixture.”
Rich is effusive. “I would go as far to say that obviously we wouldn’t be in the position we are without Ceri, because he’s given us a lot of direction and what we should be doing, what we shouldn’t be doing, and what people expect from us. It’s really hard for us, for me especially. I don’t know what the other boys feel, but it’s hard to know where you are within the scene. Do we push from what we achieve to having an achievable goal?
“Because you can say, oh, I want to play Download this year. It’s not cheap, it’s not achievable but you have to get to a certain level before you can go further. So, he’s definitely been really, really good in building the steps up.”
“Essentially, we couldn’t have done it without him,” Karl adds.
Although Ceri has been a key factor in the Kraken’s rise, he is also doing management for the first time, having promoted shows for many years. “The good thing is that we’re both kind of rising together as well,” Mark says. “He’s never been a manager before and he’s never had all these contacts before and all the rest of it. We’ve been doing this for seven years now. It doesn’t seem like that long, does it, but when you think about it. I guess, that’s a long time.”
It’s worth reflecting on what Rich means by where they are in the scene. For one thing, which scene are they thinking, for there are so many different levels and genres and scenes. Having tried a couple of times, King Kraken made the decision to abandon the Metal 2 The Masses route to Bloodstock, and they focused more on the Hard Rock routes.
To suddenly end up being announced for Stonedead was one thing, but of course, there was Bloodstock 24, when a packed tent saw them go up against Clutch on the main stage. And that was full, not just with their loyal hardcore fans, but with people who were drawn in by the band’s sound and possibly reputation.
Rich adds his thoughts. “I think people see that we can do it, we can go and play rock festivals. We can go play in Heavy Metal festivals like Bloodstock and go down an absolute storm. Green Lung are not a massively heavy band, but at Bloodstock, they went down brilliantly. I think it’s a good place to be because you get two different audiences looking at you and it’s not just pigeonholing yourself into one thing.”
Mark continues. “I think the perfect example is that we had we had Hero on rotation on Planet Rock, and we had Bezerker on rotation on Kerrang! at the same time.” Point proved.
It seems an appropriate moment to move on to the single Hero, which has been on heavy rotation on Planet Rock for over a fortnight at the time of our interview. For someone who classes this band as good friends, it is quite a surreal experience to hear them on such a large radio station. 6:30 am in the morning may be a bit much, but it’s what any musician should want.
Rich tells us that Adam said that he was driving home from work, and it came on the radio, and it was not even introduced. It just came on, and he said it hit him like a ton of bricks. “Oh my God. This is me. I’ve been wanting this all my musical career, and then suddenly, it’s like, what on Earth is going on here?”
Karl is equally astonished. “There was no introduction, there was no description. Not even, this is King Kraken from South Wales. We were pleased with no words, no build-up, nothing after. It’s almost as if the audience should already know who we are. Which to us feels nuts.”
It’ is a song that means a lot to many people. I have had the album for a few months and I am familiar with every song. But even for me, it is still crazy to hear the band on such a station. One thing evident about Hero is that although it’s very much an emotional ballad, it is still very much a King Kraken song. It has evidently gone down well with many listeners.
“100%,” Mark says. “We’ve had people messaging us saying, oh, it’s struck a chord with them. When they heard it for the first time, they were filling up with tears in their eyes. So, the emotion from the song is translated over. We have not had one person come back and say do not like it. They’ve accepted the song. They’ve run with it.”
“I mean, it’s definitely our sound. Just mellowed, isn’t it?” adds Karl.
Clearly releasing a song that is very much in a different vein to the band’s usual style was going to be a risk in some ways. The band were aware of this and there were some nerves before it was released and then picked up by the radio station.
As with much of what King Kraken are doing, it is new territory, and that anxiety is understandable. However, as the boys admit with a smile on their faces, “It’s gone down an absolute storm.”
What’s interesting is the comparison with the muscular Berserker, which was still being played on Kerrang! and Primordial Radio at the same time. Hero has not trumped the previous single, but it has shaken things up, although Mark is keen to point out that Berserker jumped six spots up to number three on the Primordial in the week we chatted.
“I think the crazy thing about this album,” Mark says, “and we kind of experienced it with Green Terror [from the debut album] is that we released Berserker eight weeks ago and it’s still having an impact now. So, it’s bit difficult to balance.
“Even though you’ve got Hero out and it’s on Planet Rock, you’ve got another single out on another Station like Primordial or Kerrang! on regular play. It’s quite hard having that balance of when you should release something because we could have easily waited another two weeks, gone into early March and then released Hero. To let the singles breathe, so to speak, and have their time.”
“As Mark said early on,” Rich says, “I think that the time when Hero was on Planet Rock and Berserker was being played on Kerrang! we were like what on earth is going on here? This is nuts. But I think for us in the band, and especially you know, Karl in particular, this is a definite reminder towards the year what we had last year.
“You know it yourself. It wasn’t an easy year for us. Karl missed a few gigs. Adam’s missed a few gigs. Pete missed a few gigs before that because of life stuff, you know? And you know, obviously, the inevitable happened with Barbara. And yes, it’s about loss, in Mark’s father, but I think to us as well it’s definitely a way to remember.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the release of an emotionally charged song like Hero has seen the band get exposed to new audiences. Rich explains that there has been an increase in their social media activity with over 300 new followers on Facebook. He exercises a word of caution. “I want them to realise yes, this single is like amazing. It’s a brilliant, brilliant single, but it’s not us, but it is us. It’s weird. It’s like a conflicting thing.
“I tell you what it is, it’s a cliche. When you get bands interviewed, and they say you know what, we love this album. There’s something for everybody on it. That old cliche. I firmly believe it this time. Something for everybody on this album. I genuinely believe that.”
Mark is clear. “If I’m going to show anybody who isn’t into rock music a song of what my band sounds like, it’s going to be Hero because that’s the most accessible. If you’re into rock music and you’re into Metal and the like, I’ll show you something else.”
Karl chips in. “I mean, it’s the most obvious choice here because, like you said, this is our latest sounding bluesy ballad kind of track. It is easy listening and anyone not into Metal will appreciate it for what it is.”
A drip feed of singles ahead of a new album seems to be the tried and trusted method for bands these days, to the extent that some are only releasing music in single form. As traditional hard rock fans, does this more modern, constant approach sit okay with a band whose roots are deep into bands who didn’t do it this way?
“It was almost like we had no choice,” explains Rich. “We had to go down the four single route because we had the news that we were playing Planet Rockstock. And we thought, okay, let’s get our first single out before we play that gig and cross fingers, we’ll get the single on Planet Rock because they want to promote the band that will play in the festival.
“Of course, Rockstock was in November, leaving the band with another four months to fill before the album was released. With PR advice that a new single should be out every six to eight weeks, it was time for King Kraken to embrace the modern way, regardless of their thoughts or views.
Rich again. “You’re talking about the modern way of doing things. Now, a lot of people are not even releasing albums. They’re drip-feeding their singles on Spotify. They will do an album’s worth of content. One single every six weeks and that will keep the numbers up. The impact of releasing a single every six weeks throughout the year is eventually, the listeners will sort of subside.”
It’s a well-known fact that only the monsters with the label support can just go into the studio, record it and then release it whilst they are still there. For the smaller bands, it is vital that they make use of every tool at their disposal to generate interest. “Use the algorithms,” Rich says.
Despite the modern way, King Kraken are going with the traditional format of the album with the vinyl package, in gatefold format with all the artwork. Everything which links back to the ’60s and ’70s, and those classic albums. So, whilst they embrace the modern, Kraken is very much a band that respects and embraces their heritage, blending the old with the new, which in some ways is how their music sounds.
King Kraken’s standard age of fan is between 35-46 which is reasonably mature, but Mark is quick to stamp that on the head. “My sister has a daughter who only recently realised that her uncle is the singer of King Kraken. Now she wants to run over and spend some time with me.
“But we’ve got guys coming to our gigs with the original battle jackets they were wearing in the ’70s. Not these spanking, brand-new battle jackets. We have that crowd turning up, and then you got kids who are loving the band as well.”
Our discussion turns to how Kraken pitch their music and who they appeal to most. Karl starts. “I think your music must be wider in appeal. Some of the modern Metal today is so modern that in ten years’ time, you will be able to pace it to an era immediately.”
It’s an interesting conversation, as we consider those artists whose sound is rooted in a period. There are lots of bands that were in the ’80s that you would place quite easily in that era. And then, we consider bands like Deep Purple and Uriah Heep, whose music spans five decades or more, and who carry a timeless style.
I think that this is where King Kraken sit, in a category that appeals to those whose interest spans the generations. “Thank you very much,” says Mark. “I think that’s fantastic because the last thing we want is for somebody to come along and go, oh, King Kraken? Yeah, they would be from the 2020s.
“If somebody in 20 years time has not heard our album in years and says, wow, that’s good stuff. I’m really into this. And we recorded it 20 years earlier. Do you know what I mean?”
We lurch into a conversation about another band with a timeless sound, the mighty Clutch, who Kraken went head-to-head with at Bloodstock in 2024. “We do have quite a few different influences in every song,” says Rich. “Every time I speak to anyone, they will find someone different to compare us with. They will say, oh, you sound like ‘x band’ and then you sound like someone else. Everyone’s got their own opinion on what we sound like.
“I think because everyone can pick out their own enjoyment or what they like about that song. That used to infuriate me, but I love it now.”
King Kraken release March Of The Gods on 18 April 2025. Get your pre-orders in now from KingKraken.bigcartel.com.
