Kingdom of Giants – Passenger
Release Date: 16th October 2020
Label: Sharptone Records
Genre: Metalcore
FFO: Northlane, ‘Invent, Animate’, Architects, Fit For A King, Polaris, If I Were You, Annisokay
Review By: Ryan Shearer
Kingdom of Giant’s fourth album Passenger is the Californian metalcore band’s attempt at trying to stand out in a genre full of bands claiming to bring something new to a very busy table. With modern contemporaries like Fit For A King, Northlane and Annisokay exploring new sounds and becoming more prominent by the day, eyes are focused on Kingdom of Giant’s first album with SharpTone Records to deliver something special. Passenger is a great example of the forward-thinking nature of modern metalcore in 2020, but alsomakes Kingdom of Giants feel very much like followers than a band leading the revolution.
I cannot give enough credit to the first track Two Suns. It is a fantastic start to the album, with a slow electronic build before the swell into heavy, huge guitars. Tracks like Two Suns, Side Effect & Bleach are great examples of how the genre is moving forward. Dark and low-tuned guitars create a wall of sound, with ambient and electronic soundscapes adding to an already thick mix. The album sounds massive and both the low end and the catchy melodies are real highlights. Wayfinder uses electro drum sounds and synth undertones to its advantage, blending catchy hooks, aggressive riffs and 80s The Midnight-inspired synthwave styles seamlessly. Blue Dream is an interesting, progressive sounding track with tasty transitions between calm emotional sections and chunky, anthemic choruses.
There are lot of instances where, if you are a fan of the wider metalcore and post-hardcore genres, you can pinpoint the influences that formed Passenger. Sync’s chorus sounds like a melodic As I Lay Dying chorus, with the clean vocals almost identical to Josh Gilbert. Side Effect’s electronic sections thickened by downtuned, open-string notes would fit in uniformly on Northlane’s Alien. Burner’s main riff sounds like Wage War’s Low, which in turn sounds like Architect’s signature sound with clean choruses. Bleach’s chorus made me think I had accidentally added an Annisokay song into the queue. There are moments, such as in Blue Dream and Two Suns where they really come into their own, using their influences to create something that sound fresh and unique to Kingdom of Giants.
This isn’t an admission that the album is intrinsically bad, it just doesn’t excel in the one area it wanted to succeed – to cut through the saturated market of cookie-cutter metalcore. The sound is tight, polished and very consistent, but once you’ve heard the first 12 minutes of the album you’ll find there isn’t lot else to be heard in the 34 minutes left. There are interesting moments and original ideas, but not enough to make Passenger an essential listen. Tracks like Sleeper, Bleach & Two Suns deserve a place on your metalcore playlists, but the album as a whole doesn’t quite do enough to deserve your full attention with all the alternatives available.
(3.5 / 5)
