Female fronted Dutch metalcore band FOR I AM KING is back with their third full length album, and first release since 2018- "Crown". While categorized as "metalcore", this band instrumentally leans a lot into melodic death metal while vocalist Alma Alizadeh delivers incredibly savage and visceral tones through every track. I for one love seeing more female vocalists in this lane and she's an absolute beast of a representative for the ladies in the metal genre.

The album starts off with a minute and a half of guitar forward and focused instrumentals before it comes crashing in with drums and bass before dropping you right into the vocal brutality in opening track "Avarice". A powerful track to open with, as it sets the energy for what's to come and is very, very catchy. The next track, and first single released from the album "Liars" opens with some very interesting, technical sounding keys before we are met once again with guttural screams and lyrics that are very on par for our current landscape of living. The band shared that the release of this track symbolizes the beginning of a new era for the band. "Alma" states "we are back and going harder than ever". "Trojans" (appropriately named) keeps the determined energy of this album with high paced guitar riffs, blast beats and heavy cymbals crashing as the vocals reach a nearly demonesque shrill.

With the track "Pariah", we get a small breathing moment opening with beautiful keys and orchestral sounding instrumentals that bloom into the emotional downfall of the song. The first lyrics are "to feel nonexistent" and continues to grow into a pain we have all felt as part of the human experience- loneliness. I am a sucker for emotionally relatable track and this one nails it on every front while still being heavy as hell (literally). "Barriers" and "Oblivion" take us right back to the same alacritous energy from the first half of the album, every member of the band perfectly balancing the tracks and holding their weight.

As we get into the final trio of tracks, "Sinners" introduces a slightly different sound than we have experienced thus far. This track brings in more atmospheric symphonious instrumentals layered into the already well known melodic death metal sounds from the album. There is even a quick but grandiose guitar solo mixed with choral backgrounds. "Bloodline" takes us on yet another journey, leaning more into traditional metalcore- almost like that of an older SPIRITBOX style (instrumentally- of course the vocals are still quintessential to Alma's sound). To wrap it all up is the second single from the album, "Disciples"- a bloodthirsty track about imbalance of power and how our "gods" have failed us. The track ends with a powerful "hail the king, For I Am King", which is a killer outro as well as a great call back to the band title.

This was my first experience with FOR I AM KING, and I was not disappointed. The energy of this album along with well thought moments of respire made it a lot of fun to listen to. This is definitely one to move to, and I look forward to exploring more from this band.