Kings Never Die is a Hardcore & Punk band made up of members Dan Nastasi (Original Mucky Pup & Dog Eat Dog, Dylan Gadino, Evan Ivkovich (Wisdom In Chains),Larry "The Hunter" Nieroda and Dougie Beans (Originally Murphys Law).They released their debut album “All The Rats” in 2023 and toured Europe with Dog Eat Dog. After they started work on their follow up album, Danny Schuler on drums left to return to Bioharzard, Dan Nastasi asked long time friend John ‘Booge’ Milnes (Mucky Pup) to help with the recordings. ”The Life & Times” although it is not a concept album, as the album title suggests Side A is about “Life” songs written about personal stores, whereas Side B “Times” reflects on the times that we live in, about the youth or younger generations and the struggles that they may face in the future.

The title track “The Life & Times” starts the album been shouted & chanted over and over before a note is even played, when the music start it implodes with a fast momentum & tempo uplifting lyrics about a good life and good memories. ”Bigger They Come, Harder They Fall” has a deep bass tone with gritty heavy riffs with high energy. ”Never Let Go” has a pounding, tight rhythm section, with vocals delivered with passion ,emotion & frustration at life. ”Empathy” is a short track which packs a punch musically & vocally, a track with darker tones. “Can I Get A Witness” and “Underdog” bring make that aggressive momentum, full of energy ,the latter having that hardcore and punk metal influences to the sound making one almighty track. ”Kill The Cowards” is that track which will surely be a fan favourite, hard and fast with that knockout punch. ”War & Youth” is anthemic full of great riffs, the anthem for the youth, the call to be rebellious ,the perfect air guitar track! “The Rights” has intensity ,a full on punk hardcore assault, while “Slow Crawl” holds back and is a bit slower compared to previous tracks, still has a powerful groove, only for the album to end with “If God Is Dead” which is the total opposite to the previous track full of high energy & pure adrenaline.

Kings Never Die “The Life & Times” is an album full of Punk/Metal attitude, aggression and energy which translates into a powerful record which will resonate with fans of these genres, but which also appeal to a lot of music listeners like myself. This been my first time listening to a punk/metal band I was impressed by by Kings Never Die it was a great listen, which I enjoyed from beginning to end ,definitely recommend well worth a listen.