Canadian Metal is usually of a very good quality with extremely high standards. So, when I received the latest album “Kill The King” by Calgary band PRISONER, my expectations were quite immense. But in case (like me) you haven’t encountered this band before, let me tell you a bit about them. PRISONER was founded in 2020, and already has a debut album (“Prisoner” in 2024) and an EP (“House of Cards” in 2024). Now, only a short time later, they have a sophomore album just released on 20 June 2025, which they have named “Kill The King”. The one thing I haven’t mentioned yet is the musical genre I am listening to, and that is Heavy Metal. Some will call it NWOTHM, but I feel that I need to add NWOBHM in order to complete the description.

If you have lived through and survived the NWOBHM era like I have, there is no way that you will not associate what PRISONER does with a lot of the sounds and music that was released during that era. And to be fair, a lot of that is due to the fact how singer Murray Emery uses his vocal chords. He isn’t the most impressive vocalist, but he also isn’t a slouch either. He knows how he sounds and by the sound of it he also knows exactly where his boundaries are. Musically though we are taking a whole different ball-game. The riffing is outstanding; the enthusiasm is contagious and the sound of it all just makes so much sense that you can only say that listening to “Kill The King” is a real treat.

PRISONER as a band is able to not only write good songs, but also play them as they should be played, record them as they should be recorded and have them released onto an album that has you wishing you had heard of these guys before now. The only thing preventing me from giving “Kill The King” a very high rating are the vocals. They are reasonable and sufficient, but I feel that with an outstanding singer I would have had to give “Kill The King” the almost perfect marks. What I really don’t understand is why no record company has picked up on PRISONER, as I feel that with the right backing, they could get quite famous with the right crowd. I sincerely hope that my review is helping with that quest as well.