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King Hitter: King Hitter

(Modern) Heavy Metal

3.5/5.0

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Restricted Release / Plastic Head Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 12.03.2015

King Hitter is the aggregation of several seasoned musicians from various bands: Karl Agell (Corrosion of Conformity, Leadfoot) on vocals, Scott Little also from Leadfoot on guitar with Mike Brown (Cutterhead) on guitar and Jon Chambliss and Chuck Manning on drums and bass respectively, both from S.L.A.M. The band offers their first EP, self-titled with five songs.

King Hitter

The King Hitter sound falls in line with current American modern heavy rock and metal. There's rowdy and thick riffs, most d-tuned (but without being harsh or hardcore), spry and sprawling leads, and a thunderous rhythm section. All this is wrapped up in a generous amount of groove and melody, and often with a swift tempo. You might even catch a little Southern mood, notably in the guitar work within The End. Agell has a forceful assertive style, but a surprising amount of melody and harmony in his voice.

As to the songs, I found most of them interesting and entertaining, yet favored the first three, King Hitter, Drone Again, and Feel No Pain (a song that some UFC dude should use for entrance music). Something in the groove and melody made them more catchy than the remainder. Actually, Suicide (Is The Retirement Plan) came across as only heavy, like sludge metal. Mostly, the riffs and leads gripped me, being quite masterful and enthusiastic, another surprise for modern metal. Alternatively, for some odd reason I can't quite put my finger on, every song seemed a tad too long. Something could have been lifted or shortened from each without doing any permanent damage to the song. Nevertheless, the King Hitter EP is a fine first effort, vigorous and vibrant modern American heavy rock/metal. I'm sure we'll be hearing more from them in the future.

King Hitter - Feel No Pain

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The King Hitter EP is a fine first effort, vigorous and vibrant modern American heavy metal. I'm sure we'll be hearing more from them in the future.

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Three years have passed since Sweden's Cruzh dropped their second long-player, Tropical Thunder, also introducing their new singer, Alex Waghorn. Now the band returns with The Jungle Revolution ... [ Read More ]