“My heart turns from dust into asphalt.”
With their 2020 album, Passenger, California Bay metalcore unit Kingdom Of Giants shifted the trajectory of their musical direction radically. Departing from the melodic metalcore sound of their first two albums, the synthwave-infused djenty sound of Passenger reinvigorated the band’s sound and turned many heads in the process. The record launched them on many successful tours in the years following. With this newfound footing, the band strangely went radio silent on the music front while they continued to tour, with a leave of absence long enough for bassist and co-lead vocalist Jonny Reeves to depart and rejoin the band. Ironing out the kinks and finally ending the drought, the band return with their latest EP, Bleeding Star.
First track “Asphalt” seems to pick up almost immediately where Passengers left off, with the atmospheric, synthwave-led atmosphere treading on familiar territory. Frontman Dana Willax puts forward a strong performance, with his gritty screamed vocals bringing the band’s now signature vocal contrast alongside Reeve’s iconic cleans. Spiritbox-esque slides give a nice bite to the track’s meaty breakdown, and the track overall is a welcome return for the band. “Scorpion” follows suit, bringing back the strong chorus hooks that were a standout on the preceding album.
It is with “Bloodworm” that the EP’s issues start to rear their heads. With a chunky intro, teasing the slightest vestige of a blast beat section, the track ultimately fails to deliver on its prospective intensity. Although it opts for a screamed chorus and an overall heavier approach, the end result doesn’t quite have the punch it should have with its overly repetitive nature. The ending breakdown finally sees the track land with the impact it teases with Willax holding out a lengthy scream, but it just can’t resist bringing back the chorus vocals instead of going in a different direction. The tempo of the EP thus far also remains relatively uniform, making it start to drag even at three songs in.
With this much time elapsed between releases, it’s rather disappointing that the band’s 2023 single “Wasted Space” still makes an appearance. Seemingly crafted after attending a masterclass on writing octane-core, its an uninspired effort that seems modelled after the recent outputs of numerous other contemporaries. The EP’s re-recorded version includes Reeves’ previously absent vocals, but does nothing to change the track’s bland composition. From thumping riffs for arenas to its stale chorus, the track feels incredibly out of place amidst the tracklist and is an overall confusing inclusion.
Closing track “Landslide” finally sees some variation to the EP’s sound. Its anthemic chorus is a much stronger punch than most of the preceding tracks, and the jump in momentum is very much welcomed after a rather plodding rest of the EP. With its comparably vivid soundscapes and energetic performance, it’s puzzling that it takes the EP till the end to pick things up, and it ultimately ends on a host of “what-ifs”.
At face value, Bleeding Star is a collection of (mostly) solid individual performances from Kingdom Of Giants. At best, they feel like Passengers B-sides, but taking into account how long it took to see the light of day, the quality of the tracks is questionable and they feel long overdue. The EP seems to be written at different points of time, ultimately leading to a disjointed experience that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. It’s the hope that Kingdom Of Giants will be able to regroup and move forward with a refreshed sound from here, one that has a stronger clarity of vision and innovation.
4/10
Bleeding Star released today, the 20th of September, via SharpTone Records. Pre-order and merch links for the EP can be found here.