Review: Kingcrown - Nova Atlantis

Review: Kingcrown – Nova Atlantis

Rockshots Records (November 22^nd 2024)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

KingCrown are a French power metal band relatively new to the scene, having formed in 2018. Never having heard any music from them and always down for new metal bands, I was intrigued to check out what this band had in store.

The album opens well enough with what would turn out to be my favored track on the album, ‘The Magic Stone’. The song has a familiar structure, with bands like Primal Fear and Hammerfall being used as a template. The song offered no surprises, and I predicted where it would go, but it was performed well, and I found myself head bobbing along to the melody.

Track 2 is the title track and has a mid-tempo pace that sped up upon reaching the chorus and would be a favorite track for me except for the decision to push a mandolin played at a high rate of speed to the forefront of the verses. It detracts from the melody and comes across like the sound of jangling keys. If the mandolin was mixed lower, it would certainly work, but not at the level it is at now. With that said, I did listen to the song on various systems and the mandolin may not be as pronounced dependent on one’s audio setup. It took me a few listens to realize that the title of the song was in the chorus due to the singer’s accent, which I’ll get to later in the review.

There is a plethora of rockers on the album, but nothing was a standout to me. I did a review of the Serious Black album this year where I mentioned I struggled to remember the tracks after the album was over and that no songs resonated with me. The same thing applies here. I feel like it’s all been done before. No song stuck with me, and I struggled to recall any melodies after finishing the album.

‘A Long Way to Valhalla‘ is the featured ballad and singer Joe Amore’s vocal approach is all wrong. For nearly the first two minutes, the song is acoustic-based and has a slow tempo and Joe chooses to tackle it aggressively. He maintains his vocalizations as the song speeds up and it fits better. He should have taken a page from Dio and approached the opening softer with some restraint.

I usually do not harp on singers, and I listen to an array of artists with various vocal prowess, but Joe Amore’s combination of his accent and his nasal approach in reaching some notes grated on me in a way that made me struggle to complete this review. I tried several times to listen to this album from start to finish but found myself getting through a few songs before deciding I had enough of his singing style. I was hoping I would warm to it but never did. I would always shut it off by the time I reached ‘Letter to Myself’ which is his worst performance on the album. The bridge and chorus were too sonically abrasive.

Regarding the music, what is showcased here is well done but unremarkable. It’s standard fare that does nothing to stick out from their contemporaries. While no artist wants to release bad material, there is a fate that can be sometimes worse…forgettable material. There is nothing that makes this band unique as all the familiar tropes are present. You could do worse checking out this band, but you could certainly do better.

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