Speaking The King's

You can't have your cake and eat it too. Similarly, you can't maintain your reputation as a solid record label while branching out into spurned subgenres. Unfortunately, this is something that slipped by Nuclear Blast, dipping into the increasingly pop-tinged metalcore/"post-hardcore" pot. The label, once very closely associated with the best in metal, is watering down its image with the addition of acts like Speaking The King's. Their Here To Stay EP is a far cry from the sounds Nuclear Blast made its name with, and further still from the better output of genre stalwarts like We Came As Romans, blessthefall or Of Mice and Men. Speaking The King's jarringly juxtapose breakdowns with obnoxiously Auto-Tuned singing for a contrast that is the exact opposite of the complementary yin-yang intended. It's appropriate that the EP's cover looks like a pop punk album because it doesn't have much more bite than one. Hopefully this sound will not live up to the record's title.