I Killed Pharaoh - King-Hell Breakthrough
Heavy alternative rock, some punk attitude and a whole lot of passion are put into ‘King-Hell Breakthrough’, the debut release from I Killed Pharaoh.
The introduction to the album, ‘Beyond The Aquadrome’ is a one minute long drum roll, but what comes after is a fairly adequate attempt at creating something ambitious, engaging, and slightly hypnotic. The term hypnotic is used for two particular tracks. ‘Better Dead Than Us’ with its mysterious atmospheric beginning and ‘Save The Man’ for its upbeat powers for generating extreme psychosis, so for a live gig this may be one you want to watch out for.
The tracks are each up-tempo and at times quite intense (‘Did I Ever Mention Policy?’). ‘Upstaged’ has an interesting opening, likewise the concluding track ‘Your Reasons’, has an action packed movie sense to it. ‘September’ with its sharp guitar riffs, has an explosive mid section of fast paced guitar that you know will drive a crowd into a frenzy, while ‘Substance’ differs for its low start with just the gentle pings of a guitar. It does however build to catastrophic levels, becoming one, if not the best tracks on album.
The vocals within this album are something that stands out for their wavy approach to singing. Through the albums entirety they enter many pitch levels, sometimes flowing up and down through one track alone. This is however what makes the album so unique and separates it from the thousands of other debut releases floating around. The vocals are not perfect, not even close, but it is these imperfections, the weird and wonderful unaltered manner of the vocals that make them stand out as different and unique. From the spookiness they give out on ‘Upstaged’, the mid section screaming on ‘September’ or the anxiousness of ‘Your Reasons’ with its chants and ambition; this album proves vocals don’t have to always be great to make an impact on a listener, sometimes it the lack of greatness that does the trick.
So if you want something unchanged and slightly bizarre, give this one a listen and be mesmerised.