• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

November 2024

• Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
• Lionville: Supernatural
• Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
• Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
• Lonerider: Down In The Dust
• Seventh Crystal: Entity
• Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
• Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
• Impellitteri: War Machine
• Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter

October 2024

• Casandra's Crossing: Garden Of Earthly Delights
• DGM: Endless
• Daytona: Garder la Flamme
• Fate: Reconnect 'N Ignite
• Frost*: Life In The Wires
• Aries Descendant: From The Ashes Of Deceit
• Fans Of The Dark: Video
• Radioactive: Reset
• House Of Lords: Full Tilt Overdrive
• Cleanbreak: We Are The Fire

September 2024

• Sinner's Blood: Dark Horizons
• Serious Black: Rise Of Akhenaton
• Eclipse: Megalomanium II
• SteelCity: Reverence
• Hydra: ReHydrated
• Heartwind: III
• Gabrielle De Val and the Dragonlords: Tiger
• Find Me: Nightbound
• The Nail: The Nail
• Timeless Fairytale: A Story To Tell
• Stryper: When We Were Kings
• Phil Mogg: Moggs Motel
• Pure Reason Revolution: Coming Up To Consciousness
• Jordan Rudess: Permission To Fly

August 2024

• Siege Perilous: Creation's Call EP
• Paralydium: Universe Calls
• Mike Tramp: Songs Of White Lion Vol. II
• Bite The Bullet: Looking For Paradise
• All For Metal: Gods Of Metal (Year Of The Dragon)
• Hammerfall: Avenge The Fallen
• Jim Peterik & World Stage: Roots & Shoots Vol. 2

[ More Music Reviews ]

King Hitter: King Hitter

(Modern) Heavy Metal

3.5/5.0

Facebook
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

Share This Review with Your Friends

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

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.

Alphabetical Index

eviewing my archives, I was pleased to find that I have had the privilege to review every Lionville since their self-titled debut in 2011. Formed by Stefano Lionetti, a songwriter, singer and guitarist based in ... [ Read More ]