Second Opinion (My Two Cents): King Conquer – 1776
With the well-recieved Decomposing Normality and the critically acclaimed America’s Most Haunted, the deathcore titans of King Conquer have created a permanent mark on the modern metal scene, chances are high that if you are into heavy music at all that you have heard of them before. The combination of the most heavy breakdowns known to man, the ferociously screeching guitar riffs and perhaps the most popularizing aspect: the insanely beastly growls always seem to get the crowd moving at any live event. After an extended period of touring their asses off, the time for the follow-up full length album is finally here: 1776. This new release basically picks up where the previous one left off, both musically and lyrically, going a bit more in-depth as the album title suggests, though for me the best element of 1776 are not the lyrics but its ability to melt my eardrums. The united efforts of all band members create quite the dense and aggressive atmosphere that sinks its bloodthirsty teeth deep in your skin without hesitation.
King Conquer kept their rock solid sound the same more or less, the only notable changes are more vocal variety (don’t worry there are still plenty of raspy hardcore screams and demonic growls for your enjoyment, just a little more mixed up) and the addition of a more (brutal) death metal style in some of the songs; a direction more similar bands are taking at the moment and has been proven to work out for most of them. Fortunately this is also the case here, the distorted grooves and breakdowns of Empires and Demoralized mercilessly stomp you into the ground with the weight of a planet, while tracks such as Tyranny, The Color Green and Novus Ordo Seclorum motivate headbanging and air-guitaring with their edgy death metal guitar work. Side Effects and Dead Last are constantly fluctuating between styles, demanding multiple listens to truly discover the best parts of each song.
While the pessimist in me might say that 1776 consists of songs that might as well be on America’s Most Haunted, closer inspection reveals a tighter, more focussed sound than ever before with some extra additives to preserve this signature sound that King Conquer is known for. In all honesty I like this album way more than I thought I would. You can decide for yourself if after all this wait and after all this hyping that 1776 has been worth the wait. Whatever your verdict might be, one thing is for sure: 1776 brings the noise with deadly precision and features tunes that will haunt your ears with aftershocks well after the music has been turned off.
Rating: 9.2/10
