Album Review: King Company - Queen Of Hearts

I'll be honest with you; with the amount of melodic rock records I get to hear, there's a point at which everything but the very best records blend together into a haze. It's not the fault of the bands, but like a sponge getting drenched, a mind can only hold so much music before it needs to be wrung out. I remember King Company from their debut album, in part because Pasi from Thunderstone was the singer, and I remember thinking it was a very solid record. I also, though, don't remember a single song from it anymore. That's what happens when there are at least five melodic rock albums every month coming out, all playing within the same range of sound. You can't remember everything vividly.

For album number two, the group is different, as Pasi was having vocal issues, resulting in a new singer handling this material. Those sorts of changes are never easy to handle, especially when a group is just trying to get themselves started. They haven't established an identity yet, and it's already changing.

It takes a bit of time to figure out what Leonard Guillan sounds like, as the vocals through much of the opening title track sound like there are multiple filters and effects on his voice, which gives them an alien feeling I can't say I'm fond of. He sits uncomfortably in the mix, where a drier recording would have more bite to it, and would be a more respectful way of showing how well he can sing. In time, he is revealed to be a fine singer, albeit he has the slight misfortune to sound similar to Ronnie Romero, who frequent readers might know I have been complaining about with regularity, given how often I have had to review his various projects these last couple of years. While Leonard is good, he has a tone I'm simply tired of.

But let's get down to business and talk about the music. As I remember from their first album, King Company is indeed a very capable melodic rock band. They are heavy enough to not be AOR, but melodic enough they don't fall into that 80s 'songwriting doesn't matter' style. They fit right in the sweet spot, where there is enough balance that both everyone and no one can complain about what they do. Couple that with a knack for writing solid hooks, and that leaves us with an album that is right in line with their first one, and sits comfortably among the solid melodic rock records this year has already given us.

"Stars" is the highlight of the record, to my ears. It is the most obvious throwback to the 80s, with a synth leading the main riff, while the pianos and big hook make for a delicious combination. The bar has been set by W.E.T., and this song matches their best efforts. The rest of the album can't match that lofty height, but it seldom dips from being a good record. I will say, though, that I can't help but think it would have come across a bit better if Pasi had been able to sing well enough to record these songs. His voice simply has something more 'it' than Leonard does.

So overall, King Company takes their second step towards establishing who they are, and it leads them in the right direction. There are tweaks here and there to how the recording was put together that can be made, but their songwriting has certainly stepped up since the first record. I can say this is easily a better record than that one, which again, I liked when it came out. However, there's so much competition I can't say if this is a record that will stick with me down the line, but it's a good record for the here and now.