President // King of terrors // Album Review

PRESIDENT have come out with their brand new EP King of Terrors, after months after months of teasing. The masked band have been shredding their own unique aesthetic onto the metal zeitgeist over the last few months, performing at Download Festival and nurturing their own spooky image at more intimate venues - and it's all led up to this moment. Like it or not, it seems masked metal bands are here to stay, and PRESIDENT is ready to show the world what it's really made of. Here is my track by track breakdown and review of King of Terrors;

1 In The Name Of The Father - 3:47

The first record ever to be released by this band is fittingly at the top of this EP. Full of perfectly gritty metal instrumentation and vocoded vocals, In The Name Of The Father is the blueprint for the very identity of this bands sound. A mix of electronic soundscape and chugging guitars, this is an anthemic masterpiece of genre fusion - on par with some of the best cuts of their predecessors. Extreme vocals are coarse and violent, and overall the melody is really pleasing to the ear. My only gripe? The digital callout of 'father' in the final breakdown. Replace it with a real vocal callout then you'd have such an impactfully human moment - but that's just my taste. That final breakdown however is amazing, and really rounds this track out.

2 Fearless - 3:35

Unrelenting, powerful and introspective, Fearless is one of the most flawless metal songs I've heard in a while. Full of powerful lyricism, some of the best sounding instrumentation and vocals, mixing the sounds perfectly for maximum texture and range - this track makes no missteps. The blending again of electronic and analogue sounds here is so seamless, and when you add those brilliant emotive vocals - you've got a real recipe for success. It flows effortlessly through the verses, into the choppy chorus' and forward again into a bridge laced with screamed vocals and more down tuned guitars. If you need a metal track that's easy listening no matter the occasion, you've found it with Fearless.

3 RAGE - 4:08

My favourite track from this EP however, is RAGE. Taking a more gentle approach than it's predecessors, the opening of this track rotates around a electronic drum beat, and softer vocals, creating a reflective atmosphere away from the violent openings of their last offerings. In the chorus, this introspection deepens, the lyrics holding so much emotion behind the relatively gentle delivery, discussing self doubt and permanence. Then it takes a change, after another verse in slams the full brunt of PRESIDENT - grunting guitars, heavy cymbals and slamming toms, it's such a glorious moment of emotion, with the overlayed screams of 'would you love me then?'. It's gone from a quiet contemplation to a full on breakdown, and mirrors that in it's last triumphant instrumental. The mixing is sublime, with all instruments holding their own in a mix that is fit to bursting, underpinned by the synth motif that's been present since the beginning.

4 Destroy Me - 2:42

This track opens with an awesome guitar riff and crashing cymbals, before stripping back to an electronic beat similar to RAGE. It's another introspective record, talking about agony and attempted self restoration, jumping from sombre moments of electronica to more heavy hitting metal moments. It's catchy, emotive, and once again full of amazing lyricism. This track is however, quite fleeting, and if there was a little more runtime added to it, I really think it would have had more time to move towards the final halftime breakdown. Although it sounds good, and hits nicely, it's all too sudden for my taste - and don't even get me started on that awful bell sound effect that begins the staggered breakdown in earnest, it's so superfluous and takes me out of the track so immediately that on my first listen I had to physically pause it and ponder why the f*** it was even put there in the first place. Who thought that was a good idea?? It even takes away from that final acoustic verse, which would have been a really impactful ending, but I'm still asking why that bell is in the mix!

5 Dionysus - 3:02

In it's opening, Dionysus takes zero prisoners. It hits that peak instantly, and once again strips itself back to electronica and gentle vocals. They're a little mumbled at the beginning, to the point where in my ears it's a little hard to understand, but this clears up in the chorus, which again adds the guitars and drums. It's a similar mix to the last couple of tracks, but that's not a bad thing. It's creating a nice stylistic identity, and I'm not too tired of it as of yet in the listen through. What I will say is that whatever filter they have on the main vocals works in some ways, but in others really muddies his voice in a way that sometimes isn't that great. It adds some strange yellow notes in the mix that I pick up on every now and again that do slightly spoil the vocals. I'll also say that sometimes, the shouts in this song are far too short. Maybe the vocalist isn't experienced enough, maybe he just lacks the lung capacity, but this song could use some more duration in the screamed portion to add just that little bit more impact - because sometimes they do border on unnecessary - but the final motif and the 'oh my god', although on the nose, is still a nice closing moment.

6 Conclave - 3:23

The closer of this record, Conclave, comes with reverberating piano and doubled harmonised vocals - it’s ethereal, spooky, but once again plays with that introspective lyrical content that it’s done so well with previously. It again uses those electronic elements in its first chorus and bridge, which work really well, and the vocal effects are a little easier, which really plays to the lead singers strengths - it sounds much more human, you can connect with it much more openly. When the proper instrumentation comes in, it’s a welcome addition, it feels natural, and brings the soundscape together perfectly. It’s heavy, but not in the sense of it being hefty in its sonics, this song really excels in its moments of lyrical clarity. It’s a really concise, heart on sleeve closer to this project, that ties up all the notable themes in a tight bow.

Overview: At its best, King of Terrors places PRESIDENT on an impressively high pedestal. Especially in its opening half, this record is impressively built for purpose, flashing forward in a rapid, and often heartbreakingly honest stead. Its mix of electric and heavy analogue elements really aid this project in carving out this bands niche within the somewhat saturated community of masked metal performers. That opening 10 or so minutes, right to the end of RAGE are some of my favourite releases of this year - however, in the second half, PRESIDENT do stumble on some finer points that have come to really grind on me. From superfluous sound effects, stutters in their breakdowns and some underutilisation of their own vocal embellishments, they’ve stunted a few of these tracks in a truly frustrating manner. They have the talent tenfold, but some odd decisions on some of these songs have really let this project down, and that’s hard for me to admit - because I truly think this band is something special.

I’ll also say that the way this project has been released has been a bit all over the place, and a serious misfire. Before the project released, we had 4 of the 6 tracks released as singles in the run up. On release day, we had about 6 or so minutes of music to sink our teeth into - practically nothing at all. The overexposure for this record is telling of a band not sure where it stands with its fan base, and instead of wanting to create a release that would be more impactful and potentially have more longevity, they chose to release two thirds of their 20 minute EP before the date. Who knows why they did this, perhaps to bolster streaming, maybe to try and keep people engaged between their live performances, but I think there could have been other ways to have done both of those things without having to release over half of your songs before the projects release. When a band has such potential for teasers, to keep people on their toes and build excitement, they’ve rather squandered it on this EP - and I hope in future they use this to their advantage to really make their releases more of an occasion.

Highlights: In The Name Of The Father, Fearless, RAGE, Conclave

Rating: 7.5/10