King (Fleshgod Apocalypse album)

King is the fourth studio album from Italian symphonic death metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse. The album was released on February 5, 2016 through Nuclear Blast Records.[9] The album was mixed and mastered at Fascination Street Studio in Örebro, Sweden.[3] King is the last album to be released featuring Tommaso Riccardi on vocals and guitar before his departure in October 2017.

King
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 5, 2016
RecordedKick Recording and 16th Cellar Studios, Rome in September–October 2015
GenreSymphonic death metal,[1] technical death metal[2]
Length57:29
LabelNuclear Blast Records
ProducerJens Bogren at Fascination Street Studio, Sweden in November 2015
Fleshgod Apocalypse chronology
Labyrinth
(2013)
King
(2016)
Veleno
(2019)
Singles from King
  1. "The Fool"
    Released: January 1, 2016[3]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[4]
Exclaim!7/10[5]
Metal Hammer6/10[6]
MetalSucks[7]
The National Student[8]

Concept

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The King in this album represents the brave part of ourselves: the one we should cultivate to become strong and rise again from this Dark Age. He’s the only positive figure of this story—a man who has integrity and love for the values and truth that we all should hope for ourselves. All the other characters in the court represent the fears that can lead us to make everything worse. They try to affect the King’s decisions for their own advantage and hope for a loss of power, regardless of the suffering they’re going to create for their own world and people. As we already said when we presented King to our fans, we should all hail the King who lives inside every one of us.

— Tommaso Riccardi, "Decibel Magazine"[10]

Production

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Due to the high cost of using a live symphonic orchestra, the orchestral sounds for the album were produced using software instruments.[11]

Track listing

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All lyrics are written by Tommaso Riccardi and Paolo Rossi except where noted; all music is composed by Francesco Paoli and Francesco Ferrini except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Marche Royale"1:58
2."In Aeternum"5:26
3."Healing Through War" (Speech from 'De Bello Gallico' by Julius Caesar)4:43
4."The Fool"4:06
5."Cold As Perfection" (Additional speaking by Nate Kantner)6:31
6."Mitra" (Additional speaking by Nate Kantner)3:49
7."Paramour (Die Leidenschaft Bringt Leiden)" (Lyrics taken from 'Trilogie der Leidenschaft' by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe)3:43
8."And the Vulture Beholds"5:13
9."Gravity"5:12
10."A Million Deaths"5:27
11."Syphilis"7:22
12."King" (Written by Francesco Ferrini)3:59
Digipak bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Marche Royale" (Orchestral version)1:58
2."In Aeternum" (Orchestral version)5:26
3."Healing Through War" (Orchestral version)4:43
4."The Fool" (Orchestral version)4:06
5."Cold As Perfection" (Orchestral version)6:31
6."Mitra" (Orchestral version)3:49
7."And the Vulture Beholds" (Orchestral version)5:13
8."Gravity" (Orchestral version)5:12
9."A Million Deaths" (Orchestral version)5:27
10."Syphilis" (Orchestral version)7:22

Personnel

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  • Tommaso Riccardi – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
  • Cristiano Trionfera – lead guitar
  • Paolo Rossi – bass, clean vocals
  • Francesco Paoli – drums, backing vocals, additional guitars
  • Francesco Ferrini – piano, orchestral arrangements
  • Veronica Bordacchini – soprano vocals (Tracks 5, 7, 11)
  • Gino Ven Makes – logo
  • Jens Bogrenmixing, mastering
  • Marco Mastrobuono – engineering, co-production
  • Eliran Kantor – artwork

Charts

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Chart (2016) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 180
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[13] 196

References

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  1. ^ "Album Review: FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE – King". Metal Injection. Metal Injection. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Fleshgod Apocalypse – King – Album Review". 9 February 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE: New Song 'The Fool' Available For Streaming". December 28, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  4. ^ Drago, Dan. "Fleshgod Apocalypse – King review". Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  5. ^ Falzon, Denise (February 3, 2016). "Fleshgod Apocalypse King". Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  6. ^ Dare, Tom (February 2, 2016). "Fleshgod Apocalypse: King – Team Rock". Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  7. ^ "Album Review: Fleshgod Apocalypse's King – MetalSucks". February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  8. ^ Mills, Matt (January 28, 2016). "Album review: Fleshgod Apocalypse – King – The National Student". Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  9. ^ "FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE – »King« out now!". February 5, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  10. ^ Solis, Matt (January 7, 2016). "Kingdom Come: An Interview with Fleshgod Apocalypse's Tommaso Riccardi". Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  11. ^ Nuclear Blast Records, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE – Recording 'KING' – Episode #3 – Piano & Orchestrations (OFFICIAL TRAILER), retrieved 2019-02-06
  12. ^ "Ultratop.be – Fleshgod Apocalypse – King" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  13. ^ "Ultratop.be – Fleshgod Apocalypse – King" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 7, 2021.