Dutch based metallers For I Am King‘s eagerly anticipated second album “I” is released on December 7, 2018 via Redfield Records. A music video for ‘Devotion’ is released earlier this month, but not mentioned here on TMR, the video can be seen below.
The uniqueness of the Dutch metal band For I Am King is best described by the introduction of the new I-factor, a 3.0 variant of the much sought-after X-factor. The I is the ninth letter of the modern Latin alphabet and it has importance in the fields of mathematics and chemistry as well. In addition, I is the symbol for electric power and it stands in abbreviations for international. With For I Am King, the I-factor (except the I in the band name) lies in the combination of the musical components: modern, complex, furious but always catchy metal with capturing melodies, supplemented by the unique vocals of front-woman and eyecatcher Alma Alizadeh. But there are also the personally and socially engaged lyrics, the outward appearance (artwork, photos, videos) and especially the explosive live shows that enthuse For I Am King’s audiences wherever they appear.
“I” – the musical direction: As a Roman numeral, I is the number 1. However, I is not the first musical output of this ambitious quintet from Amsterdam, but the second. Guitarist Koen Scheepens: “When we started writing the new material, we absolutely did not want to limit ourselves to musical genres. After a while we gradually noticed that we were able to include everyone’s personal taste and ideas into the unity that ‘I’ eventually became. The result is a new face, in which the old one, our debut album “Daemons” (2016, Redfield Records), is still visible. ‘I’ is certainly still metal, influenced by bands like In Flames, Trivium, Darkest Hour, Arch Enemy or Killswitch Engage, but it’s more accessible than our first EP ‘Revengeance’ and more contemporary than “Daemons”. ‘I’ sounds familiar, refreshing and characterizes the growth of the band – as friends and musicians.”
“I” – the overarching theme: Bassist Jurgen van Straaten: “Only I as a person can influence the choices that I make and only I am directly responsible for the consequences of these choices. Whether this choice is good or bad. There is good and bad in everyone of us and it is up to you to choose how to live your life. We tried to incorporate this philosophy into the lyrics for the album. The lyrics are for example about an impossible love (‘Devotion’), dark and depressive times (‘Misery’), the loss of a loved one (‘In Memory’), having to flee from home (‘Home’) but also the destruction of our planet (‘In Flames’). All the lyrics have a personal basis, experiences we had to go through or things we see around us.”
“I” – the artwork: Front-woman Alma Alizadeh has an Iranian-Persian background: “I lived in Iran until I was 11 years old and then had to flee to the Netherlands with my mother – the new song ‘Home’ finds its inspiration there. The Persian art style Qajar served as the main inspiration for the artwork of ‘I’. We have tried to translate the lyrics into a number of stylistic images. On the album cover you see a king (the I), next to him a woman (as the source of life) and on the other side you see death. In the artwork and in other expressions of For I Am King, the colour gold is a recurring theme. For us, gold symbolizes the transition of the soul of a bad person, that’s filled with greed, hatred and selfishness, into someone who puts passion, virtue and love high on his banner.”
Track List:
1. Prey
2. Forever Blind
3. Home
4. Misery
5. Invidia
6. In Flames
7. The Reaper of Souls 8. Devotion
9. In Memory
10. Havoc
Upcoming Shows:
Jan. 12 – No Sleep Till Wieleman 3, Westervoort, Netherlands
Jan. 19 – Eurosonic Noorderslag 2019, Groningen, Netherlands
Feb. 09 – Decapitated, Alkmaar, Netherlands
Feb. 10 – Decapitated, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Mar. 23 – Pop- & Cultuurpodium P3, Purmerend, Netherlands
Mar. 29 – Merleyn, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Mar. 30 – StudioGonz, Gouda, Netherlands
Apr. 05 – Gigant, Apeldoorn, Netherlands
Apr. 06 – De Pul, Uden, Netherlands
Jun. 07 – Hubertka OPEN AIR 2019, Okrouhlička, Czech Republic
Jun. 08 – Metal Feast Open Air, Rokytnice, Czech Republic
Jun. 27 – JERA on AIR 2019, Ysselsteyn, Netherlands
Weblinks: Facebook / Spotify / Twitter / Instagram / iTunes
Video for ‘Devotion’