Album Review: King 810 – Suicide King (Self Released)

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, there is no denying King 810 are a bit of an anomaly in metal. The hype surrounding their debut album (Memoirs of a Murder) got us to the point of annoyance while the follow up (La Petit Mort or a Conversation With God) came and went without anyone really noticing.

No doubt what a lot of metal fans think of when it comes to King 810 are the controversies. These often surround the band’s stance on guns and line-up changes. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture and you can’t help but think that the Flint, Michigan natives might be running out of lives as they release their third album, Suicide King.

Well, as soon as you hear the utter trash that is Bang Guns, A Million Dollars and .45 you’ll probably be glad. Answering every single critic of their aggressive gun love and faux-gangster style by doubling down on it. It would be funny if King 810 weren’t so serious.

It’s not as though the tracks that came before (Heartbeats and Braveheart) were anything but bland rap metal numbers anyway. By the halfway point, if you’ve made it this far, no one would blame you for checking out and giving up on the album.

However, for good or bad depending on your taste, King 810 return to the playbook of the more imaginative second album. The results are surprising. Very surprising as Black Rifle is a piano led number with a thrilling stomp and gravelly vocals that really work. It’s like listening to two different bands!

It’s not alone either as Wade in the Water’s bluesy and crooning take on the Flint water crisis is very impressive. All before the Sing Me to Sleep ends a confused album with a futuristic nightmare of effects driven King 810 fodder.

As great as Black Rifle and Wade in the Water are, two great songs do not make a great album that is ten tracks long. It seems as though King 810 have no real direction and can’t quite settle on what they should sound like.

Less of the rubbish gangster-stuff and more of the meaningful messages would be a good start.

King 810 – Suicide King Full Track Listing:

1. Heartbeats
2. Braveheart
3. Bang Guns
4. A Million Dollars
5. .45
6. What’s Gotten into Me
7. Black Rifle
8. God is Watching
9. Wade in the Water
10. Sing Me to Sleep

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Suicide King is out now and available via all major streaming and digital services.