PRESIDENT : "King of Terrors"

 

Anonymity creates quite a buzz. This band has a huge online presence despite only having one single out  and a Download performance under their belt . It is the songs from that performance that are given the studio treatment, with the first single opening the EP. Sonically similar in many ways to Sleep Token, they blend djenty metal guitars with technical drumming and multiple layers of soulfully harmonized vocals. If this were AI, told to create a band in the vein of Sleep Token and Bad Omens, I would believe. You hear a little more of who they are in the pop leanins in the second song, "Fearless". There is enough believable emotion being conveyed from under the mask to work. Lyrically, this is just a pop song. The vocals are pretty much the centerpiece, as this could be any band with a metalcore singer. And without the pop nuanced vocals, it would be much less impressive. 

They cross over more fully into pop for "RAGE". Perhaps it is ironic that this song does not invoke any feeling of rage whatsoever sonically. Even when things kick into the more syncopated stomp.'Destroy Me" has a more nu-metal feel, though things are dialed back to a Post-Malone level of intensity for this song. The vocals dance around a TikTok beat bolstered by Myspace metal guitars. The album's first actual metal moment drops in the last minute of the song.  "Dionysus' picks up where the last song left off as it works off a similar formula., They go for the soaring emotional response on the chorus. Once again in the song's final moments, things come crunch down.

The last song makes you think they are going to fake you out and go into a cover of Steve Winwood's "That Just the Way it is' until the heavily layered and auto-tuned pop vocals come in to bring the party to the kids. Guitars kick in enough for you to be aware they are cosplaying as a rock band. It is hard to argue against a good pop vocal. I will give this album a 9, only rounding it down to the fact that they seem a little caught up in their illusion, and instead of doing what they are good at, which is writing pop songs, they throw mediocre metal riffs in so kids can feel edgie than they are, illusion sells, these guys get caught between a markerting gimmick and being solid songwriters. Just listen to the music and forget the hype. 

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