Album Review

To Kill A King – Word Of Mouth EP

• 20th Jul 2012

To Kill A King are a difficult band to label – and that has to be a good thing. Their sound is perhaps best describes as something like folk infused indie rock, but their amazing five part harmonies mark them out as very different and very entertaining.

Their new six track Word Of Mouth EP was self produced and self released, and will be available primarily as a free download. There will also be 500 hand printed copies circulated to fans who, we are told, will be encouraged to share it in unusual ways. Seems like this band likes to do everything differently – they specialise in “guerrilla gigs”: acoustic sets played in locations like shops or train stations which are announced just before they start.

Opening track Howling is a quite stunning song. The bass and synth intro sets a steady pace before the vocals come in. A gentle drum beat in the background steadily speeds up and then the instrumentation fades to leave Ralph Pelleymounter’s vocals, backed by some fine harmonies. Then there’s a great guitar part as power chords mesh with a synth melody. And to close the harmonies build once more to a cacophonous sound before falling for one last a cappella vocal part. Amazing.

Funeral starts with a jaunty melody that belies its title. After the great opening track this one is merely good, the vocals smooth and even with a fine guitar part in the background from Ian Dudfield. Besides She Said is softer in tone, a gentle rhythm set to back the vocal but again there is some lovely soft melodic work in there too.

Wolves is more uptempo with a melody running through it that gives it an offbeat feel, and a lovely bass line runs through the song. Rays builds from Ben Jackson’s simple synth opening that raises the pace once again. Again the bass is prominent as Josh Platman shows his skills and those great harmonies combine once more. Let It Die ends the EP on a softer note. This slower track allows Pelleymounter to show his smooth vocals can carry a tune with the best of them.

Overall this is a good EP, although the wonderful Howling puts five other good tracks very much into the shade. To Kill A King are clearly good musicians and the vocal harmonies that they create lift them above many other bands.