Album Review: Kings Never Die - All The Rats
Reviewed by Daniel Phipps
With members from New York, New Jersey & Pennsylvania, Kings Never Die are pretty much as East Coast as you can get, along with having members from 3 different states all with big ties in the hardcore scene some of these members past & present accolades include Dog Eat Dog, Biohazard & Wisdom In Chains. The band who formed late 2019 just in time for a worldwide pandemic which allowed them to not rush into releasing a follow up to their EP “Raise a Glass” used that time to craft a debut 10 track offering All The Rats.
All The Rats takes zero time to settle in as it quickly opens with its fast paced opening track “Stay True” which sets up this very traditional sounding and anthemic album very nicely. Kings Never Die offer an extremely fun yet serious approach to their sound. They start by taking the roots of the genre and keeping what they do in line with what was layed down 40 plus years ago and including a more modern feel with an ever so slightly metal edge, to add some grit without losing sight that this is a hardcore band.
All The Rats has an extremely catchy vibe with lots of anthemic sing along sections, as noted above it’s got a really classic hardcore base foundation but the band do mix in other elements with some short but we crafted lead work along with some more modern sounding “mosh” sections sprinkled in but all very much working within the base of what the band showcases for the bulk of the song writing “Make Them Anymore” might be the best showcase of this with its mixture of everything from mic grabbing sing alongs, side to side inflicting riffs and windmill inducing breakdown. Lyrically and vocally it maintains quite a positive vibe even if some of the subject matter is not particularly positive at points.
Kings Never Die deliver a much welcome set of solid hardcore tracks which proves that if a style & sound isn’t broken you don’t need to fix it. The record is definitely something that grew on me the more I listened to it so it may not seem an instant fit but if you are a sucker for classic hardcore then All The Rats will meet your needs 100%.
