I’ve been a big Kings Destroy fan ever since I saw ’em at Days of the Doomed III in Milwaukee a couple years back. Their second album, A Time of Hunting, cracked my year-end Top 10 in 2013, and I have high hopes for their follow-up effort. The band brings the melodic doom, similar to Apostle of Solitude, but adds a hefty crunch underneath, reminiscent of their NYHC roots, which really gives the songs a big boost.
Kings Destroy kicks off with “Smokey Robinson,” which doesn’t exactly display the soul of the Motown great name-dropped in the chorus, with a crunchy stop-start riff giving way to a few melodic notes in the chorus—before the band picks things up to near-hardcore speeds in an unexpected change of pace. Likewise, it would appear that “Mr. O” is a Reggie Jackson reference, but this one sounds like an up-tempo St. Vitus stomper (think “War is Our Destiny”) that comes through in the clutch.
“W2” is more of a slow burn, again in the Vitus vein, while “Mythomania” mellows things out considerably until the heavy chorus comes in. Heavy riffs abound on “Embers” and “Green Diamonds” before “Time For War” brings us out with some slowed-down despondency. Overall, I’d say this is a solid effort, but it doesn’t quite grab me the way its predecessor did.
