Review Summary: I make your insides shift, that is my gift.
Here we go again. The internal buzz from the metal community for these guys seems to have subsided somewhat now the release of their diabolical debut,
Memoirs of a Murderer, has had time to reflect on the fans that loved it, and gave me a chance to wash the bad taste in my mouth. As you can tell,
Memoirs of a Murderer did little for me: the overdramatic theatrics from frontman David Gunn, who's selling point is that he was in prison, and is one hard motherfu*ker on the streets, is just one of the reasons the band do little for me; as well as the mind-numbingly obvious jabs at shock-factor; topped off with the shameless plagiarization off Slipknot's early NU-metal sound did King 810 little favours. But even if you take the tired sound and antics out of the equation, you could overlook this and enjoy them for what they are; many bands fall in the same traps, and the band's heavy use of the NU-metal ethos could have been something I'd enjoy. But ultimately, no, I don't, and the reason I can't stomach a band like King 810 is because of their purpetual condescension that oozes from every song they write. When the band do their thing, it's as if they are on a tier up from you and looking down as they bless you with their songs.
The biggest problem I have with this band is, indeed, their insentient snobbory while they write this drivel, but in all honestly these monologue tracks -- and moments when David attacks tracks with monotone rapping -- do absolutely nothing for me, nor do I think they help the tracks in anyway. The monologue entires on
Memoirs of Murder were horrible and painful to sit through, but you could tell David thought he was the sh!t when he was writing it. And it all feels like a desperate attempt at making you think what they're doing has depth. Ignorance is most definitely bliss.
So here we are, two years later, and the band are back with their sophomore effort,
La Petite Mort or a Conversation with God. If you weren't a fan of the band's staples then there is little hope for you here; the only thing the band seem to have done is up the
sh!t don't stink factor a couple of numbers. The obnoxious "Alpha & Omega" which implies David is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, the cringe induced execution of "Vendettas", where he tries to act like he's crazy, draws on the emotions of crying from embarrassment and laughing so bluntly at what he's trying to do.
However, despite the pretentious nature of the record being even more potent than previous, it doesn't irritate quite as badly as
Memoirs of Murder. This is largely due to a changed up in styles of music, as opposed to the NU-metal heavy debut, that had little variation. There is some soundtrack style tracks that slowly work their way around -- ala "War Time"; the jazz and blues elements to "Life's Not Enough" and "Me & Maxine" are geniunely some decent additions to this LP and certainly help the album along. The music is largely minimalistic, it's basically background noise that supports David with his rapping; it's intention is to obviously accommodate and create an ambient mood setting that allows David to tell his tale in a certain way. The album starts off with Djent and doom elements, but as you get to the latter half of the LP it becomes more obscure and chilled out, it's actually pretty decent in that aspect. String arrangments and so forth are present here, "I Ain't Going Back Again" is the most enjoyable track on here: the wild west style guitar riff is a nice dynamic, and David's lyrics actually bring a decent picture to the story without becoming corny.
It also has to be said, the band has an underlining zeal throughout, and I can give a little respect for that. BUT, the problem again lies on the core staples. When you are this serious about your music it walks the dangerous line of becoming goofy, and a lot of the time they fall into that. It basically lands on whether you're into what David is saying, because
La Petite Mort or a Conversation with God relies so heavily on David and his execution on everything he does, it's one of those that will simply turn people on or off to it. There is some decent ideas on this album, and it certainly shows a band that has potential, but if you weren't sold on them the first time, you won't be sold here either.
Poor
Editions: MP3, C̶D̶, V̶I̶N̶Y̶L̶
Packaging: N/A
Special Edition: N/A
