Any album or song called “Kill the King” has my immeadiate unconditional respect. I could not care less about the royalty, their lives, their schemes and go on. They represent a world where birth determines all the privileges a person can get in life. It means someone is automatically better than all of us just because. I cannot agree with something like that. It just makes me sick. It is not that it does not happen anymore, but you can get my point. Economist Thomas Piketty wrote his book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” about how wealth is reproduced, and maintained, through the mechanisms of heritage.
The initial intent of “Kill the King” was, I believe, to be some sort of a homage to 1980’s Heavy Metal. Well, to some extent, Prisoner did it with flying colors. However, I do not believe the band intended to sound as if they were a band from the aforementioned epoch. My guess is they wanted to be some kind of hybrid as Avenged Sevenfold. I say this because their instrumentals sound too modern regarding to technique and sonancy. That’s the reason why vocals are the ones that take the fan to the golden era of Metal music with a voice that addresses a lot to many iconic albums. As a matter of fact, it is not really the voice, but the way it was recorded that recalls the golden era. By the way, I have to praise the awesome nstrumentals here.
The folk oriented “Mars” opens up the album giving it a tranquil start that paves the way to “Have It All,” a typical 1980’s Old School Heavy Metal that heats the album up. The singalong chorus of tittle track “Kill the King” conquers the fan totally showing a facete that will take over the album that is a grunge oriented vocal even though the track chorus does address a little 1984’s Leatherwolf’s classic “Kill and Kill Again.” Little by little, grunge oriented vocals will take over the album. Then comes “Chasing Ghosts” with a neat bass line and very cool guitar riffing. It is here that the grunge oriented vocals come to stay forever in the album. It would be some sort of heavy instrumentals Soundgarden. Pay attention to the relentless drumming. The dude seems to be a non-stop machine. The ballad “Cold Light” cools down the mood with a Metallica oriented melody that glues to the fan’s ears while the instrumentals address the “Red Hot Chili Peppers” way of doing it. The uptempo “Lost in Control” surprises with a fast guitar riff followed by an inspired guitar solo using the wah pedal – which I love.
“Kill and Kill Again” is an album that may fascinate my dear child of the night with its energy and passion. The relentless energy Prisoner give to their songs is their signature. The mix of Ols School Heavy Metal instrumentals with grunge oriented vocals works fine giving the an unique touch.
Prisoner “Kill and Kill Again” will be independently released on June 20th.
Track Listing:
01 – Mars
02 – Have It All
03 – Kill the King
04 – Chasing Ghosts
05 – Cold Light
06 – Lost in Control
07 – Feel the Heat
08 – Edge of the Universe
09 – Stress Fracture
10 – Double Vision
11 – Over the Magic
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!