Italian symphonic masters of destruction returned with a royal bang of the head rather than a wave.
Fleshgod Apocalypse have always been one of the those bands to whom rules and conventions rarely apply. Their brand of neo-classical death metal has been, at times, as intricate and beautiful as it has been brutal and tortured. The Beauty and The Beast if you will.
Many of the band’s ever expanding army of admirers will point to 2014’s Labyrinth as a career highlight for this band but after a few spins of King they may well need to set up another throne on which this album can sit. For every fan of the band there is much on this album that they can identify with but this is also a band that refuses to repeat themselves and continues to push the boundaries of their hybrid genre.
The regal orchestral opening of ‘Marche Royale’ is a fitting prelude for what is to come. The majestic orchestration strides confidently into the first main track “In Aeternum” which plays on the madness that has often befallen monarchs across the world and throughout time. The slightly schizophrenic nature of the track embodies the harsh realities of the privileged but fragile mind.
The album as a whole is dramatic and as operatic as metal gets. There are moments when the individual talents of the band members can be clearly heard. There are quiet moments of introspection and unexpected restraint and King is all the more powerful for it.
Kudos must go to Jens Bogren and his mixing skills which has captured the bands shifting sands approach to the balance of symphony on full-on death metal power in way that has not been done as coherently before. Not as successfully and seamlessly as this anyway. Francesco Paoli’s drums inparticular are given additional weight in the mix which lifts the band’s sound up another notch. Paolo Rossi’s vocals are once again powerful and dripping with raw honesty and vibrance which by now is somewhat of a given. The guitar solos are intricate and often spellbinding as the fretwork wizardry is let loose with a controlled but carefree abandon.
“Healing Through War” is a fine example of the evolving and shape shifting nature of the band’s sound. As to is “The Fool” which is as dynamic as anything the band have done.
Fleshgod Apocalypse are a band who like a concept. Their back catalogue is riddled with all manner of themes and tales. On this album it feels like the story being told if more complete and direct. Whether this is down to the songwriting or the song structures it’s difficult to pin down but the album when taken as a whole exudes a confidence and authority that has been hinted at heavily on previous releases but not quite fully realised. Although the same could be said when taking the tracks as individual pieces of music in their own right. An impressive feat to pull off.
A highlight, amongst many, is the gloriously bombastic “Syphilis” which is part spoken-word, part full-on opera and part slow grinding death metal. The extremely talented soprano voice of Veronica Bordacchini can be heard across the track. She can also be heard on “Gravity” and “Paramour (Die Leidenschaft bringt Leiden)” to great effect. The latter being a beautifully constructed piano piece that wouldn’t be out of place 200 years ago being performed in front of the great and good of European high society.
The closing title-track “King” is a familiar Fleshgod offering and something that has now become as familiar to their fanbase as the intense riffing. It’s a bare bones piano track that ebbs and flows with a delicate intensity. Standalone it’s a fine piece of music and as the last statement from an album that positively charges with energy and bombast it’s a low-key but somehow fitting finale.
Donnie’s Rating: 8.5/10
