Review Summary: excellent metalcore.
Beheading Of A King’s newest EP is a textbook example of how to keep a hype train on its tracks. The people claim that the music shows a band that plays a technical and progressive version of metalcore, and the EP has been utterly praised by pretty much everyone. Everyone wonders if it's really as good as hype dictates, and surprisingly, it is. Of course, it isn’t as wholly groundbreaking as touted, but such a claim is an obligatory result of hype. What we have here is an excellent metalcore album that will put other bands to shame. This isn’t the kind that you’ll find in the mall or the kind that your scene buddy listens to. It is refreshingly well-done metalcore that proves just how appealing and interesting the genre can be if played right.
The band has technical skills indeed, but they are never deployed without reason. The album can be considered progressive due to the fact that the band actually cares how the songs unfold. This doesn’t mean that aggression is sacrificed, but it means that songs build up to those brutal sections. Their progressive edge can also be attributed to the band’s musical style which is heavily influenced by djent. Nothing is straight forward, and you can actually tell songs apart from each other due to the varied guitar playing.
Despite the tendency towards progression, the album is ridiculously brutal. Sure, the guitars occasionally churn out melodies or screw around a bit, but they’re more heavy than not. Overall though, the aspect that keeps the album brutal is the lead screamer’s delicious deathcore styled growls (yes, I called them delicious). Impressive at all times, they are some of the best screams in recent memory. With complete control over his vocal range, his high range is quite proficient, and his lows are staggeringly brutal. Although the band itself isn’t blowing our minds with originality, the superb growls make the band something of note, and the music here is top-notch.
Quasar: Preserving Legacy is host to some excellent stuff, and metalcore lovers would do well to listen to it.
