The Last King

The Last King is among the "new wave of deathcore that actually plays something other than just shitty breakdowns every song" also called simply as NWODTAPSOTJSBES. TLK play a unique version of deathcore, or at least they claim to; melding peculiar melodic death/hardcore riffage, recurring hardcore influenced vocalization and a few other minor surprises onto a deathcore framework.

The music mainly swings between melodic death metal and deathcore. Most tracks start off as gloomy melodeath bangers before halting and then progressing into a breakdown and later attempting to merge both. Now I am not totally against deathcore breakdowns (in fact, I believe that creative breakdowns like those implemented by Aversions Crown, Shadow of Intent, Rings of Saturn etc. can induce a sudden urge to mosh...or cause one to flail their limbs to get rid of those pesky invisible bees, depending on who they are) but the way they are utilized here is rather predictable and generic. Sometimes things almost degenerate into typical bro-deathcore level, accompanied with befitting eloquent slogans like chug chug chug or step/sit the fuck back down. Perhaps they should listen to their own advice as this does nothing more than bringing down the overall quality of this release down. Despite this certain core moments are reminiscent of better acts like Parkway Drive, Aegaeon, and even some The Black Dahlia Murder. On the other hand, the riff-crafting on this is pretty decent; creative and refreshing but never devolving into that sugary power metal-esque guitar theatrics that plagues alot of melodic death metal bands. At times the guitarist pulls off weird, refreshing and sometimes jarring sections out of nowhere. I think either dropping or, at least, toning down the core elements would yield better results for these guys as the melodeath offered here is pretty good.

This self-titled debut is a self-produced effort and that shows. The production is a bit muddy, however, that makes this stand apart from the shiny production on a majority of modern death metal/deathcore releases. Having said that, some of the finer guitar melodies and riffs tend to suffer due to this. The bass also tends to become noticeably messy at certain instances.

TLK is composed of hardworking individuals and this whole effort is pretty much a DIY affair so throw a few bucks their way and pick this up. It may not be perfect in any way as there is plenty to improve upon but this release offers a decent dose of enjoyment and that human emotion/charm that is missing from a majority of heavily produced and sterile modern metal.

Recommended to fans of: At the Gates, The Black Dahlia Murder, Shadow of the Colossus, AngelMaker etc.

Favorite Track: Upon a Ship We Die Pt. 2