EP Review: PRESIDENT - 'King Of Terrors'
A former taboo topic behind secrets and riddles, anonymous metal collective of PRESIDENT celebrate their inauguration with the release of their debut EP, King of Terrors.
Cryptic clips, president addresses and citizen call-ups have upended the Internet as the most dedicated sleuths scoured the darkest pits of the web to find any trace of information as to what - and who - was this page that had emerged from nowhere. It wasn't until the bands' first headline rally at London's Garage in May did it firmly click into place. All with little fanfare and fewer interviews, these guys were the real deal - and they were here to kick up some noise.
The same month saw the band take on the might of Download Festival - which resulted in their tent exceeding capacity and citizens evidently spilling out onto the fields.
Fronting mammoth riffs and guttural vocals, the electric four-piece of President, Heist, Protest and Vice throw up a statement of intent. The six-track catalogue imparts a surge of mammoth riffage, guttural vocals and poignant moments of clarity amongst rage. King of Terrors - the name drawn from a Biblical reference denoting death explores heavy-weight themes such as darkness, religion and worship as it channels the referential backdrop of Sleep Token.
The EP kicks off with a presumption that you were ready. "In the Name of the Father" is a momentous work of teetering a fine line between control and chaos in fashioning moments of soft-synth clarity and devastating crescendos. Between religion and rebellion, President question the very hall-markings of faith as the chorus sings out, "“Oh, Father, I can’t hear You yet / I want to feel You near, it’s suffocating.”
"Fearless" is a cathartic repent of bottling up emotions as steers into Bring Me Horizon's Sempiternal territory with vocal heroics. The psyche of past love emerges via electronic-induced "RAGE", as we see more calls to a God which inevitably go unanswered. The visceral lyrics do the heavy-lifting on "Destroy Me" - That I let you destroy me with a blunt scratch through my veins / And I watched you just take away everything - before we're launched into one of most atrocious breakdowns we hear across this 6-track project.
"Dionysus" brings more of the same pitch manipulation, behemoth vocal shrieks and angular instrumentals with nothing held back. "Conclave" draws out a conclusive thesis - "Does it matter we can't escape? I guess it's hard to live with your mistakes, if there's nowhere else to run" - before bowing out in a damning finality resembling that that past love, will always remain - even after death.
Their latest, KING OF TERRORS is the first completed project from the group since their residence in May and comes with a string of rallying live appearances. Aptly coined as The Campaign Trail, their inaugural UK headline tour sold out instantly with many calling for the venues in question to be upgraded.
The run - which sees them hit Manchester's O2 Ritz and London's O2 Forum in Kentish Town - marks a pivotal moment in the movement, calling citizens across the country to stand united beneath the banner of belief, volume, and resistance.
Fans will be quick to draw comparisons with the likes of Sleep Token when it comes to this new bout of anonymity channelling spiritualistic imagery. Especially when you find out they are under the same management wing. But PRESIDENT's brutal introduction here just goes to show that there's definitely room for two powerhouses to exist in this ever-expansive metal landscape.
Words by Alex Curle
