Album Reviews : I Killed The Prom Queen – Beloved

It’s like they never left. I Killed The Prom Queen took an extended hiatus after their ‘Say Goodbye’ tour due to the loss of key members; vocalist Michael Crafter and guitarist Jona Weinhofen. However, in 2010, the surprise reformation of the band with new members for the ‘Destroy Music’ tour brought back hopes that a new album would be in the works.

The tease of ‘Memento Vivere’ at the tail end of 2012, along with a tour alongside Parkway Drive began to stoke the flames and rumours that a new album would be released soon began flying. However, with the loss of original drummer JJ Peters to his now fully-fledged project Deez Nuts, Prom Queen fans began to despair that nothing would come of the promise of new material. Soon afterwards, an American tour and the Australian ‘East/West Coast Rampage’ put to rest any fears that Prom Queen’s return was to be short-lived. The announcement of Beloved, the band’s third full-length album with the addition of a new vocalist, drummer and bassist, meant that the band had a lot to prove on the upcoming release. Thankfully, the wait has more than paid off, with Beloved standing as one of the best metalcore releases to come out of Australia.

The opening track ‘Beginning Of The End’, as has been the norm in recent years, is an acoustic introduction, reminiscent of Parkway Drive’s echoing melodic technique. Simultaneously as bassy synths are introduced, so too is new vocalist Jamie Hope, who cuts across as a juxtaposition to the soft piano behind his harsh vocals. Guitarist Jona Weinhofen stated in a recent interview that some listeners may find influences from his Bring Me The Horizon days, and these can easily be found during the opening track.

After a build up of double kicks, cymbals and a crescendo from the entire band, the first real track of the album ‘To The Wolves’ begins. Released as the first single, this song is perfect as an introduction to the melting pot that is the new Prom Queen. Starting with a breakdown, the quintessential Prom Queen is still evident, with Hope’s vocals serving as a unique yet familiar replacement of former screaming vocalists Michael Crafter and Ed Butcher. Even before Hope’s monstrous screams bring in one of the heaviest breakdowns of the album to finish the track, the listener is already ready to throw elbows around. Furthermore, without sounding hyperbolic, every single riff on Beloved demands to be nodded along to. Both ‘Bright Enough’ and second single ‘Thirty One and Sevens’ begin with catchy as hell riffs from Weinhofen, but the former’s seemingly Latin inspired interlude, and the latter’s chorus which is built to sing along to, manage to separate the tracks from sounding similar.

It’s impossible to go through a Prom Queen album without feeling a need to swing wildly in a pit, and to also scream along the clean sung parts with the same amount of energy. For those who prefer to run around a circle pit, there’s no doubt that Prom Queen are able to bring the heavy to cater for such a request in ‘Melior’ and ‘Brevity’, even with orchestral arrangements intertwining with heavy blast beats. Fans who want to scream the lyrics back at the band have more than enough opportunities during Beloved, most notably during the aforementioned ‘Thirty One and Sevens’ and ‘No One Will Save Us’ which features guest vocals from The Ghost Inside’s Jonathan Vigil.

Alongside the familiar, the biggest surprise of the album emerges on ‘Kjærlighet’ (unsurprisingly, this translates to ‘love’ in Norwegian), with select moments stripping away everything except slowed down synths and clean vocals. Once Hope returns, the track becomes an epic interplay between heavy and light, and is possibly the biggest controversy that the album may bring. However, for the band who has had a hand in inspiring almost every successful hardcore and metal band in Australia, Prom Queen have enough of a reputation to try anything they want, and it somehow manages to work. In no small part is this due to the amazing production by Sweden’s Studio Fredman, owned and operated by acclaimed producer Fredrik Nordström. It’s a struggle to find any criticism of the album, and at the opposite end of the spectrum, every single part of Beloved is mixed to perfection. Some may say that, at times, Beloved may sound similar, but this would only be if they’re searching for an element to criticise; listeners are more likely to beg for more of the same, rather than wishing it would end.

It’s hard to tell whether it’s shocking that Prom Queen have actually managed to live up to, and surpass, the hype, or that such a skilled group of musicians shouldn’t be doubted for a second. For those who’ve been a fan since ‘Choose To Love, Live Or Die’ and the split with Parkway Drive, and those who are only familiar with the band’s anthem ‘Say Goodbye’, Beloved will easily appease old and new fans. It’s early in the year, but I Killed The Prom Queen may well claim the top spot of many ‘Best Of’ lists at the end of the year.

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