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Released on May 31, 2015 via Self Released
King Leviathan are having a pretty decent year, judging by their press. They’re fairly new, having been a band for about 12 months, but in that period they have hit some strong support slots, played a tour, and will be playing both Bloodstock and Mammothfest, the latter for the second time, later this year. Huge achievements, all – but how does their second EP stack up against this?
The Shrine is a very good EP, to give a short answer, demonstrating a maturity in song-writing and construction which is commonly missing from unsigned bands of this ‘age’, let alone some fully fledged touring label supported bands. There is a singularity of vision in their modern melodic thrash onslaught, which, when combined with Lovecraftian imagery, is a bit of a winner.
Thrash is a difficult subject to handle well, it’s very, very easy to sound dated and a product of a time; that time usually being 10 years before the band members were born. King Leviathan side-step this neatly, by absorbing minor influences from modern metal, metalcore, even a little bit of doom, and allowing them to show through every now and then. Witness the final breakdown and the black metal stylings from title track ‘The Shrine’, or the subtly doomy middle eight from ‘Madness Made Divine’; these are the touches that root the band in the here and now, but are used so sparingly that they don’t overwhelm the true nature of the sound, with the record overall sounding like a cross between Darkest Hour and Cauldron.
The production on this EP is excellent. One of the awesome things about the progression of technology is that not having a record contract and a meaty corporate bankroll no longer precludes a really great sounding record. Even unsigned bands can sound ace with a little cash in the hands of the right studio. In some cases that’s bad, as every flaw in the song-writing or performance is laid bare for scrutiny by unsympathetic listeners, but in cases like King Leviathan’s sophomore EP it is truly beneficial, and Paul Winstanley has really allowed the songs to shine. It helps that the playing is uniformly excellent, with vocalist Adams’ vocals in particular hitting some guttural deathy vocals and some soaring melodic cleans.
Confession time – I’ve seen these guys live before. This is good and bad from a reviewer’s perspective; it means that, as a reviewer I can confirm that the band can pull off this stuff live – even in the pretty bad circumstances I saw them – but it’s also a bad thing because I know how much they sell the image with the live show. The make-up, just the right level of theatricality, the between song Cthulhu themed banter, it all adds something indefinable, elevating the songs somehow and making it more of an experience rather than just a set of admittedly very good modern sounding thrash songs. The reasonably anodyne experience of listening to a CD doesn’t match this, which is a shame, but is sadly unavoidable. It’s a common problem, from Slipknot to Rob Zombie, but the songs still do enough and are slick enough to make this EP enjoyable and definitely worth a purchase, even if they don’t hit the heights of the live show.
The song writing on show here is smart and mature, the production and performances are excellent. Does it feel like their final form? No. There’s definitely more growth to come from this Brighton mob, but this is as good a place as any to get on board and join the cult of King Leviathan.
