Review: King 810- Suicide King

King 810 have returned with their third full-length studio album in early 2019, Suicide King. This album sees the band as a two-piece after guitarists Jason Hale and Andrew Beal and drummer Jason Workman left the group rather unceremoniously. Those departures leave only vocalist David Gunn and bassist Eugene Gill. Will the limitations of only having two members hurt King 810 in their attempt to follow up two respected releases? In short, yes it did. Suicide King hits its peak within the first two tracks. “Heartbeats” opens up the album on a very intense note. It has everything that King fans have come to expect from the band after their first two albums. Gunn’s desperate-sounding vocals are the centerpiece of the song. It is backed by an industrial backbeat that adds some metallic qualities to the song. “Braveheart” picks up right where “Heartbeats” left off. There are some electronic qualities in the song which leads to a very different sound for King. It’s a very intense song that leaves the listener on the edge of their seat. That’s where Suicide King falls off a cliff. Songs like “Bang Guns” and “A Million Dollars” are simply unremarkable. The former’s lyrics are laughable and repetitive to the point of sheer annoyance. The latter is as monotonous and forgettable as it gets. Songs like “Black Rifle” and “Wade in the Water” make the listener think that Gunn is going to completely forget about his career as a metal frontman and take up a gig as a lounge singer. This album has a major identity crisis. There are songs that have metallic tendencies from their first couple albums. Then there are ones that have hip hop beats with Gunn rapping over them. And there are near-country tunes which somehow ended up on this album. For fans of the King that was heavy and brutal sounding, this album is not for you. If you were someone that latched on to the lyrical storytelling, then King did what they have done. However, given the band’s history, I just don’t think that this album delivered on all fronts. Score: 6/10 Notable Tracks: “Braveheart”, “Heartbeats”, “What’s Gotten Into Me” -Jacob Marcheschi