Reviewed by Graeme Crawford

Young Texas metallers Fit For A King are newly signed to Solid State Records and here present the fastest selling debut album in the history of the label. It's easy to hear why, as the band take elements from The Acacia Strain, As I Lay Dying and Circa Survive and blend them into their own wonderfully thunderous cacophony. Building on their independent first record, the band continue to deliver apocalyptic sounding metalcore, with the perfect amounts of melody and clean vocals to enhance but not reduce the onslaught. The production from Andreas Magnusson (Oh, Sleeper; Haste The Day) is enormous and bludgeoning, yet still allows the technical skills of the musicians to shine through. "Warpath" is the heaviest riff I have ever heard, while "Hollow King" and "Bitter End" showcase the band's abilities in the first half. "Skin & Bones" provides a clever interlude in the style of Stone Sour's "Bother" before "The Resistance" brings us back to the complex riffs, breakdowns and harsh yet challenging lyrics that FFAK do so well. On this form they deserve to be in the highest league of Christian metal bands, and Solid State may just be the catapult they need to get there.

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