Flint band King brings metal crunch to Frankie’s Dec. 22
Written by Mighty Wyte (Matt Feher) | | mw@toledofreepress.com“Sonic methamphetamines.” That is the best way to describe the music the Flint, Mich., natives in King create. Our northern neighbors will drive to Frankie’s on Dec. 22 to assault ears and mutilate the textbook definition of hardcore.
King’s guitars are big, brutal and potent. With riffs and guitar technique that hearken back to early Korn and rival those of later Slipknot, it’s easy to get wrapped up in King’s style. Massive drums and airtight bass are elemental of course, but ensure that the head-imploding rhythm that King generates hits you squarely in the chest.
While it’s unfair to compare King to other bands, it’s hard to ignore the influence you hear in the guitars, drums and bass style. What is wholly unique to King is the vocals. Purposely raw and underproduced, the emotion conveyed is real and tangible.
Of course King has its own sound and it is built on an iron core, but the sound isn’t so extreme that only a small pocket of die-hard metal fans would appreciate it. Listeners familiar with what some metal fans may call “commercial” will find that King is writing material that is sufficiently heavy with melodies and breakdowns that are likely to cause neck injuries.
At this point King only has two songs available on its MySpace page (myspace.com/king810) thanks to the recent serverwide updates, but fans of anything from Slipknot to Thy Will Be Done will certainly want to take a listen. There is little reinvention to speak of, which is absolutely fine. When you want a cheeseburger you don’t want it re-engineered, you want a piece of beef with some cheese on it. King delivers the beef and serves it up hot.
Formed in December 2007, King has been playing locally and regionally since the summer of 2008. While King’s members spent the better part of 2010 writing and hashing out song arrangements, this stop in Toledo marks the beginning of King’s refreshed determination and new touring regimen.
Doors for the King show open at 6 p.m. on Dec. 22. Advance tickets are $8 and can be purchased from any Ticketmaster outlet, Culture Clash Records and Ramalama Records. Tickets at the door will be $10.
