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Fit For A King is one of those metalcore bands that possess the somewhat common quality in the subgenre of being a Christian band with some religious undertones or themes found in their material. However, one of the more appealing things about them is this Dallas, Texas-based artists' unique ability to overshadow the aforementioned qualities with genuinely heavy breakdowns and convincingly harsh vocals. This mixture of hard-hitting core influences with realistic and relatable lyricism has kept the band going strong since their late 2000s inception, with several releases under their belt to prove it. But how much longer can they keep this up until it all goes stale? Read on to find out.
Having released two EPs in addition to four full-length albums prior, Dark Skies serves as the band's fifth studio outing to date. The new album was finally unveiled to public eyes and ears on September 14 of this year through the artist's usual label of Solid State Records. This latest ten track release comprises nearly 40 minutes of heavy Christian metalcore content and is filled with many of the band's recurrent concepts and such. Dark Skies is now available on physical (CD & LP) formats in addition to digital.
I will say that the songs on here are slightly more structured as opposed to many of their other releases, especially the early and super late tracks. Also, the vocals seem to include much more variety throughout; providing a constant blend of choir or a capella-esque cleans as well as the vocalist's signature low growls to keep listeners on their toes. The ambient intro to Dark Skies is a nice, subtle touch that gives way to 'Engraved', a Volumes-esque song that is pretty solid and has some catchy prog riffs added in as well. The album goes for a djent sound many a times, and throws in clean singing whenever it can.
'Price of Agony' may well be my personal fave on here because of how fleshed out it is and the really engaging chorus. It stands as a more The Contortionist/Silent Planet track with stellar guitar melodies and eclectic vocals. 'Anthem of the Defeated' is another really good one due to its darker tone and different type of vocals (despite being a short track). Also, the lyricism throughout Dark Skies is pretty impeccable. The album really ends off on a good point, with 'Oblivion' providing some very memorable material as well. 'Youth | Division' is another track that deserves an honourable mention for its heavy breakdown and sweet outro.
While there are things that I really enjoy about this release, it is definitely not without its faults. For one thing, the innovation isn't really there too much; instead, Dark Skies opts to rely on several genre tropes and influences from other artists or albums in most of its running time. I felt as though the band played it a bit too safe here and didn't really find their own identity with this one. In addition to that, while I liked the performances (vocals and instrumentals) themselves, I also thought that the writing on this album, sans lyrics, needed some work, especially in the middle tracks, with some either being too brief to remember or too long and repetitive to enjoy.
To top it all off, I just want to state firmly that Dark Skies is by no means a bad album per se. The energetic performances and other promising features are there to an extent and are scattered throughout. However, quite a few of these positive aspects are often enshrouded within a tired and mostly cliche formula that we've seen time and time again. And, all in all, though I didn't mind the release at the end of the day (and after my first time listening), I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to someone looking to get into Fit For A King. The longtime fans may be satisfied with this finished product, but for others like myself, it's another average ordinary everyday metalcore album.
Fave Tracks: 'Price of Agony', 'Anthem of the Defeated', 'Oblivion'
For Fans Of: The Contortionist, Underoath, Wage War
**This release is available now here!**
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-Review by: Dave Raffy
Musician, reviewer, fan & promoter
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