Album/EP

Fit For A King - The Path (Album Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Sep 14, 2020

7 min read

Fit For A King - The Path
Released: September 18th, 2020

Lineup:

Ryan Kirby - Lead Vocals
Jared Easterling - Drums
Ryan O'Leary - Bass/Clean Vocals
Daniel Gailey - Guitars/Backing vocals

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According to rumours, Fit For A King was planning to visit Australian shores this year until the dreadful COVID-19 pandemic occurred. They aren't leaving us empty-handed though. Sticking firmly to the two-year album cycle, Fit For A King is back with their sixth full-length release. While holding true to their metalcore roots, with this release we are given the opportunity to view this band in a different light, let's have a look.

Album opener 'The Face Of Hate' begins with eerie atmospheric sound before Easterling's drums take effect. Kirby's opening screams with an incredible guitar riff which is simplistic in nature yet abundantly powerful grabs every bit of my attention. This opener sets the bar high for what is to come as it leads into 'Breaking The Mirror' where intricate guitar riffs seem to dominate. The beautiful melodic clean vocals of O'Leary are everything I had hoped for. The song finishes on a heavy note as a breakdown which is inclusive of the lyrics "You'll never break me".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KgMDOCGmXI

Beginning with an incredibly strong drum presence 'Annihilation' gives us an increased tempo with unforcefully fast guitar riffs—the chorus which is inclusive of the lyrics "Rebuild, redemption. Welcome annihilation" is what I can easily imagine being yelled by punters in sold-out venues around the globe. Slowing the tempo down, we are brought to 'The Path' which seems to be heavily influenced by Parkway Drive's latest material from Reverence throughout the chorus. With a slow, chugging guitar riff throughout the entire song, which transitions to a faster pace throughout the breakdown, I anticipate this track to be a fan favourite in no time.

'Prophet' starts with a soft, melodic guitar rhythm before the pace quickly escalates. The tempo in this track transitions from a hard-hitting mosh riff to a slow balladesque rhythm with ease, ebbing and flowing in a way which creates an unstrained listening experience. Taking us into the breakdown are the lyrics "Don't let the world devour me", which add volumes of emotional depth to the track. Offering more of Ryan O'Leary's impressive clean vocals 'Locked (In My Head)' displays the band's melodic side, without taking away any power from the hard-hitting instrumentals. The blast beats thrown in by Easterling are also a delight on the ears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_42cE93yGk

Featuring the vocals from the Crystal Lake's extremely talented Ryo Kinoshita 'God Of Fire' is an industrial, electronic song for the most part; an entirely new direction for the album. Fusing electronic synths with the band's staple hard-hitting instrumentals for the breakdown, the mix between the two styles is surprisingly pleasant. The next song, 'Stockholm', seems to be nothing more than a generic metalcore track, which is a little disheartening as I was enjoying every song immensely until this track. By all means, it is not bad; it just doesn't offer any new elements or anything to be excited about.

Beginning with slow, uplifting piano chords 'Louder Voice' takes it down a notch as the band allows their melodic side to flourish. Lyrics such as "Will you pull me from the dark, my friend? Will you promise me it's not the end" make this offering a ballad which is a guaranteed tear-jerker. Finishing off the LP is 'Vendetta', the djenty and destructively heavy track which takes us back to the band's heavy roots one last time, wrapping this album up amazingly.

Fit For A King continuously manage to impress fans all over the globe, including myself by using what works for them musically and improving on that sound. Hopefully, they will be down under again soon, but until then, playing this album on repeat is almost just as good.