KING DUDE is an eclectic dark/neo-folk outfit that shares a variety of musical influences that go from British folk to Country and Blues. The band comes out of Seattle, Washington. This release entitled "Music to Make War To" is released through the Van Records label, and contains 10 tracks combined for 41 minutes 38 seconds of music. The opening track "Time To Go To War" has a very dark intro and in terms of its vocal approach, it finds its middle ground somewhere between DAVID BOWIE and JOHNNY CASH. It has it share of echoes in the background but also a fair share of reverberation in every word sung or spoken, accompanied by very melancholic piano notes.

"Velvet Rope" has a much happier approach, basing its foundation a bit more on 80s gothic rock or simply the straight forward, innocent rock approach of U2. While the music itself does follow a more upbeat tempo, the vocals remain slower but they have an additional element here in that the vocals are doubled in the chorus, adding a bit more texture to them. "Good and Bad" sounds like the perfect soundtrack to the 3 am exodus of drunken customers out of your local bar, where the single male found at the tail end of the venue is looking for a faithful companion to end the evening.

"I Don't Write Love Songs Anymore" has a very THE CULT-like sound with the trademark distant effects in the guitars. Once again I would be ignorant not to state the 1980s feel to this song. It just feels like it could have been released in that era, the keyword here being "innocent" as the music does not contain anything overly pretentious, it is an honest interpretation of a theme, something we have heard countlessly in probably the most irreproachable anti-love song band of all time THE CURE (of course I am being ironic as the band has used the theme in almost every song except from a much more negative and depressive approach).

"Dead On The Chorus" follows a similar pattern; it is very rhythmic and groovy and as the title indicates, feels like a repeated chorus, where you are getting the middle section and no excess baggage around it. "Twin Brother of Jesus" uses much more spoken word than any previous track and I guess the easiest comparison would be to MASSIVE ATTACK, especially in its atmosphere. Yes the vocals are completely different, but the overall texture found here is something akin to the British legends of the genre. Most of the songs use the piano as a conveyor of emotions, somewhat apocalyptic in tone, as if the singer is found alone in a building where everything around him in falling and crumbling. Yet as the eternal prophet who must convey his message, he pours out his soul, and such is the case in the album closer "God Like Me"<