As everybody knows, if there’s blood in the water, sharks will come circling: in the music industry, there can be no trends without the inevitable onslaught of chasers, eager to capitalise on the ‘next big thing.’ Modern metal has seen a very distinct brand rise to its forefront in the last few years— theatrical masks, nebulous imagery and anonymous performers are the name of the game— and its a style rising stars PRESIDENT have dived upon like vultures. Anyone familiar with our Sleep Token review earlier this year should know exactly where we stand on new EP ‘King Of Terrors:’ the approach being taken here is nothing short of sickening.

PRESIDENT— whoever they may be— stand at the very centre of the cultural zeitgeist bands like Bad Omens and Loathe have created: if ‘King Of Terrors’ is indeed another strand of modern metalcore, it may just embody all the genre’s worst tendencies. The record seeks to strip every element, from the vocals to the guitars, of any natural warmth or human connection— it’s an extremely cold and robotic listen, arranged as surgically as it is. The riffs and breakdowns of cuts like ‘In the Name of the Father’ and ‘Destroy Me’ sounds like they were programmed on a MIDI setup, rather than actually recorded by a guitarist: in their attempts to add clarity and gravitas to their sound, PRESIDENT instead strip their songs of any sonic appeal. As for the vocals, don’t even get us started— if listening to the metal equivalent of the TikTok text-to-speech voice drone on and on across this twenty-minute EP sounds appealing to you, don’t let our naysaying stand in your way.

This tasteless production serves to doll up a disparate, discordant collection of songs— PRESIDENT’s approach to songwriting is about as subtle as their announcement for Download 2025 (if you can remember all the speculation and hubbub that spawned). As far as the metal side of the EP is concerned, the group are pulling from the discount section at ‘Riffs R Us’ when the guitars come crashing in on ‘Fearless’ and ‘RAGE:’ more than anything, ‘King Of Terrors’ proves that down-tuning your instrument is no substitute for strong writing. These complaints apply equally to the series of melodic choruses that crop up across the EP (that practically beg to be sung by drunken metalheads, too intoxicated to pay too much attention). ‘Fearless’ probably fares the best in this regard, bringing some genuine bite and venom to its hook— the utterly forgettable offerings of ‘Destroy Me’ and ‘Dionysus,’ meanwhile, read only like a poor facsimile of their influences.

Of course, PRESIDENT are far from the first band to do their utmost to run the good name of metal into the ground: the real sickness at the heart of this EP is its gross affinity for twisting and warping a multitude of other genres. ‘King Of Terrors’’ fusion of modern metalcore, R&B and electronic music fits about as well as pineapple on pizza— the elements should not go together. Any stomping guitar riffs the band pull out are swiftly abandoned for another verse full of trap drum loops and washed out synths, undercutting any morsels of momentum or excitement the band were ever able to generate. As you might be expecting, PRESIDENT’s approach to these genres is almost colonial: on ‘RAGE,’ for instance, the way the overprocessed vocals sit on top of the dull dance beat is nothing short of embarrassing. If there is promise to be found in this genre combination, you’ll have to look elsewhere: the garish vocal bytes of ‘Fearless’ and sappy falsettos of ‘Conclave’ are merely symptoms of an EP created to chase an unfortunate trend.

If ‘King Of Terrors’ has any merit, it’ll be its ability to tide Sleep Token fans over until Vessel and company manage to put out another record— from the opening notes of ‘In the Name of the Father,’ which couldn’t sound more like 2021’s ‘Alkaline’ if it tried, it becomes abundantly clear who PRESIDENT are attempting to emulate. Even then, at least Sleep Token have pioneered their own sound— PRESIDENT are merely feasting on leftovers. There’s something almost wicked about the way the group stretch and disassemble so many promising ideas, all in service of such a disposal release: if you need proof that ‘King Of Terrors’ is practically unlistenable, your best bet would be to attempt to endure it yourself.