When I Killed The Prom Queen decided to call it a day back in ‘08, a sigh of disappointment was heard across the country. Thankfully, the band have now returned with three new members and a new album in an attempt to reclaim their title as the pioneers of the metal scene.
Jamie Hope is an excellent choice as vocalist, maintaining the same powerful range from his days in The Red Shore. Guitarist Jona Weinhofen’s clean vocals are also used effectively and abstained from being awkwardly shoehorned into every song.
Unfortunately, the album’s main issue is that it errs a little too much on the side of caution. Namely, tracks like ‘Bright Enough’ and ‘Thirty One & Sevens’ scream classic I Killed The Prom Queen, in spite of their formulaic approach, with a clean chorus repeated by Weinhofen prefacing an ending breakdown.
The band shake it up in places, especially with the appearance of Soilwork’s Bjorn Strind adding another layer to the chorus of ‘Calvert Street’ and the unmistakable vocals of The Ghost Inside’s John Vigil packing a punch during the penultimate ‘No One Will Save Us’. Moreover, subtle orchestral elements used make tracks like ‘Melior’ and ‘Kjærlighet’ really pop.
However, it’s the astonishing heaviness of ‘Brevity’ where the band really fire on all cylinders. The five-minute closer bookends the album perfectly, fluctuating between beautiful melodies and weighty breakdowns without feeling bloated or artificially lengthened.
There’s lots of good to be found on Beloved. However, you’d hope that after such a long absence, I Killed The Prom Queen would arrive back on the scene with a bit more of a bang.
Listen to ‘Melior’ from Beloved here:
