Review Summary: "Nu metal poetryslamcore"
Within almost every major genre of music, there is at least one subgenre that is considered to be the “black sheep”. For electronic music, it’s dubstep, particularly brostep. For punk, it’s pop punk and occasionally emo. And for metal, it’s…….. Well, there might as well be an entire herd of black sheep for metal. There’s glam metal, metalcore, and most infamously, deathcore. But an older, more formidable form of “false metal” has begun to make a return in the past few years: Nu metal. Now, as with most genres, it’s usually the better option to go off of the notion that both good and bad bands exist within nu metal. Even the most despised bands (i.e. Slipknot, Korn, etc.) started off somewhat promising. Hell, Deftones are held in high regard and receive critical praise even today. But when the genre gets bad, it’s really bad. Look at bands such as Godsmack, Staind, and the atrocity known as Limp Bizkit. All pandering to the lowest common denominator of mainstream “metal” fans. But, as wise master Yoda once said, “There is another”. What happens when you scrape the bottom of the barrel so hard that you tear right through and start digging through the dirt? Chances are you’ll come across Flint, Michigan newcomers King 810 and their debut EP simply titled “Proem”.
The main problem with King 810 is the fact that they fail to even remotely captivate the listener in any way at all. All of the nu metal songs sound the same, following the generic formula of chugging, muddled guitars combined with bland harsh vocals that offer the band no identity of their own. Admittedly, “Fat Around the Heart” does sound a little bit like a watered-down version of Slipknot, but “Killem All” and “Desperate Lovers” are downright horrendous, with repetitive, laughable lyrics that sound as though they were written by the angsty thirteen-year olds this EP was made for. They’ve essentially taken almost everything that nu metal has become infamous for and mixed it together into a stew of mediocrity.
Perhaps the worst part is the fact that the band actually believes that they are being “edgy” and “artistic” with their music, similarly to other bands such as Emmure. This egotism and complacent attitude all culminates in the unintentionally hilarious final “track” (if you can even call it that), “Anatomy 1:1”. The “song” is literally nothing but the vocalist yelling slam poetry for over two minutes, with cringe-worthy lines such as,
”Why am I trying to convince narrow-minded fucks that I hate/Of course they don’t get it, they’re built like shit/And I could’ve said it with metaphors, but this way you understand it, goddammit”. There’s EDM music with better lyrics out there.
If it hasn’t become apparent yet, here it is: King 810 is a terrible, terrible band. Stay as far away as possible from this album unless you’re looking for a laugh from “Anatomy 1:1”. Because of the many rehashed and forgettable nu metal albums that have come out in the past few years, this is among the worst. The only merit I can give is the fact that it is mercifully short, but even then, the EP was still a chore to listen to. And when you only have
three normal songs on your EP and it still manages to drag on, that alone speaks for itself.
