ALBUM REVIEW: Passenger – Kingdom Of Giants

Latest to throw their name into the ever deepening hat of modern metalcore prospects over at SharpTone Records are KINGDOM OF GIANTS. The Californian’s fourth effort Passenger occasionally conjures up shards of excellence, but for the most part confines the band to looking like potential future hitters – as opposed to present starlights.

Ironically it’s the band’s label mates that hold the record back. CURRENTS and POLARIS nigh on mastered the modern formula with their efforts earlier in the year, while LOATHE and ALPHA WOLF became totally new propositions of metal over the last eight months. That’s not to say Passenger is left in a barren wasteland, but its competition is abundantly rife.

Its competitors become irrelevant on the likes of Bleach though. Channelling the harsh tuning of HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH – it’s undeniably the ‘take note’ flier on Passenger. Its vocal flexibility is seconded in impact only to its shivering mosh call of “feel my lungs drown in bleach”, and guitarists Max Bremer and Red Martin conduct proceedings with a swagger. To their credit, KINGDOM OF GIANTS purposefully avoid pulling the same trick twice. This classic, 2010’s format of metalcore is rarely copied and pasted elsewhere on the record, but what is there scarcely matches this level of profound intensity.

Passenger is susceptible to being lightweight in its delivery. The synths of Night Shift and Side Effect are interesting enough – but their supporting blocks struggle to maintain their weight. Passenger has a habit of losing weight when chasing its lead hook, as the chorus of album opener Two Suns uncomfortably highlights. The Californians usually buy some good faith back with a sneering riff, but the momentum halts at play can be jarring.

The record sounds much more at home when the one-two punch of Burner and Wayfarer rear their head, though. The two almost juxtapose each other – with one being a visceral assault and the latter focusing on twisting vocal melodies. It’s where KINGDOM OF GIANTS sound the most direct, and arguably, best on Passenger.

Almost a victim of its genre’s recent success – Passenger is a palatable entry in 2020’s metalcore lottery. It never reaches the flickering brilliance, or high quality consistency of some of its peers, but nor does it disgrace itself. KINGDOM OF GIANTS are a band that are unlikely to change the face of metalcore, but they’ll never embarrass it either.

Rating: 6/10

Passenger is out now via SharpTone Records.

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