Release Date: June 25, 2021 Genre: Metal, EDM Label: Hopeless Records Sullivan King, the Los Angeles-based artistic creation of vocalist, instrumentalist, and producer Keaton Prescott is a one-half metal, one-half EDM blend of epic proportions. Sullivan King will release his sophomore album, LOUD, on June 25, 2021, via Hopeless Records. LOUD is a follow-up to both his debut album, Show Some Teeth (2019), and his recent EP, To The Grave (2021). Prescott doesn't go it alone on his second album and has recruited the help of some major talent in the metal scene in the likes of Jason Aalon, Aaron Gillespie, and Spencer Charnas. The recent Hopeless Records signing Grabbitz is also featured on a track. Furthermore, LOUD is produced by King himself -with at least one track on the album co-produced by Goldfinger vocalist and guitarist John Feldmann. Feldmann has produced a plethora of albums over the years. Most notably for artists like 5 Seconds of Summer, Good Charlotte, and The Used, to name a few.
Prescott started releasing music under his Sullivan King moniker in 2014, releasing single after single, collab after collab and led people to turn heads to his music. Skip a few years, King began to garner quite the traction in the EDM community. He released several more collaborations with a few major producers like The Chainsmokers, DJ Snake, and Marshmello. In April 2017, Sullivan King was invited on the road as direct support on a few shows for the electronicore band I See Stars, and in 2019, on Excision's Apex Tour. That lead to a solo outing, Thank You For Raging Tour, in the Fall and Winter of the same year that spanned across the entirety of the United States. On Sullivan King's LOUD, King continues to champion the fusion of metal guitar riffs and electronic dance music elements together alongside his fellow producers such as Excision and Kayzo have for the last several years. Though, Sullivan King embraces his metal influences and the metal music styles he's been incorporating into his music since the inception of the Sullivan King moniker in 2014, more than ever before. Essentially, LOUD is a metal album with elements drawn from EDM versus his previous efforts, Show Some Teeth and To The Grave, which were more so EDM albums with aspects drawn from metal music. Additionally, Prescott has always provided his vocals on the hooks of his songs over the years, but on LOUD, he has begun singing on the entirety of his tracks and lays down some of his most incredible guitar work, unlike anything he has released in the past.
The album opens with a haunting intro that leads into the explosive metalcore title track, "LOUD." The song is most certainly "loud" and is a high-octane album opener that cements the album's pace. The song features vocalist Jason Aalon (FEVER 333, ex-letlive.) and blends metalcore and dubstep with absolute ease. Now laying down full vocal tracks on his songs, Prescott showcases his vocal abilities unquestionably with no restraint and delivers a hard-hitting guitar performance on the title track as well. On the heavy metal track, "One," the juxtaposition of a wall of bass over the blistering guitar riffs and solos hits you dead smack in the face. Additionally, the track features one of the most unique breakdowns I've heard in some time that blends pulsating bass, drums, and chugging guitar riffs all in unison.
The lead single, "Dark Love," is an experimental track of sorts that presents more of the electronic dance music side of Sullivan King. The song features Aaron Gillespie (Underoath, The Almost) on not only the vocal duties for the track, but Gillespie also lays down the drums heard in "Dark Love." The single features a post-chorus blend of electronic sounds mixed with down-tuned guitars that are a pleasure to hear together. Things come down a bit on the album's seventh track, "Venomous." This particular track features Ice Nine Kills vocalist Spencer Charnas for an exciting, hard rock/EDM blended tune with an infectious chorus that had me singing the words before "Venomous" even ended on the first time hearing the track. The eighth track, "Scene Kids Unite," is a massive stand-out off of LOUD. "Scene Kids Unite" takes Sullivan King to his roots, as I assume he was once a "scene kid" himself. If you're unaware of what a scene kid is, maybe it's best to just Google it. Slowing things down even further than the previous track, "Scene Kids Unite" is a pop-rock, summery anthem that would be an irresistible hit on the radio. While the song is quite "out there" than the rest of the album, it still somehow fits excellently onto LOUD. Proclaimed in the lyrics, the song tackles the passing of time since scene kids would "sing about their best friends" and how they "would wear black in the summers." On the penultimate tune, "Yeah, I Bet," you're delighted with the album's fastest track that clocks in at only two minutes and twenty seconds. With a pace that could smoulder the stings of King's guitar -and burn the tips of his fingers- the fast-paced number braces you with lightning-fast thrashy guitar riffs, heart-pounding drums, and a ferocious vocal performance that will leave you astonished. I had to pause the album on my first listen to take in what I just heard, distinctly after that blistering guitar solo. By far, this is Prescott's best showing of his abilities on the guitar. "Yeah, I Bet" also gives off a System of a Down influence quite a bit, and I'm interested to know from the artist in the future if that's the case. With the help of pop artist/producer -and previous touring mates- Grabbitz, LOUD closes out with yet another anthemic pop-rock number, "Help." A track chock full of infectious melodies, a message that it's okay to seek help, and another blistering guitar solo to end the album on a positive high note.
