EP REVIEW: KING OF TERRORS BY PRESIDENT

Reviewed by Cecilia Pattison-Levi

The Biblical quote in the Book of Job (18:14) states: “His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors”. The ‘King Of Terrors’ being death and this is a very interesting straightforward way to view the global times from the band PRESIDENT. Death will claim us all. There is a spectral theme here of loaded religious words and twisted meanings not only in the band’s name or the Extended Player’s (EP) title.

This EP is 20 minutes long and has religious and politically loaded song titles as well. The album opens with the allusion to the prayer ‘In The Name Of The Father’ and its two electric guitar pulses and a huge scream of rage bring in that usher in swirling synths. The message about finding meaning in a meaningless world and holding love from life into the afterlife. How very Ancient Egyptian of them! Love is sent from heaven above in huge choruses, heavy pulsing electronic body music and basslines.

Now, it is important to note that someone a little older and knowing is behind this band. According to research, PRESIDENT is an anonymous English metal band formed in 2025. The names of some very famous band members have been thrown around suggesting some sort of supergroup. I don’t care and neither should you. From my several listens through this EP, someone a bit clever is behind this music and it’s great to hear something clever. Like the mystery that follows TISM here in Australia, rejoice in the songwriting and the music. PRESIDENT is delivering that in spades They have something to say, so listen. The musicality of the songs is a blended mix of alternative rock, post-hardcore crunch, metalcore, combined with synth-pop, ambient electronica and a touch of R&B. Whoever is singing has a lovely voice.

The second song is ‘Fearless’ with a delicate melody layered over heavy guitar, bass and drum instrumentation and R&B vocals underpinning it. The song concerns the lies that surround us daily as the listener is encouraged to “roll the dice” of fate and to “see you in ‘Paradise’”. Well! That’s loaded! The children’s chant of ‘Fearless’ contrasts with the great vocals of the lead singer and the very dark vision of death and his realm as a better place to be in.

The song ‘RAGE’, which, let’s face it, we are all feeling at this time, is inspired by the poem ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ by Dylan Thomas (one of my favourite poets). This is the crux track of the EP. It features a lovely synth-pop female vocal melody and combines chilled electronica experimentation that builds into thrashy guitars that make you wonder for a moment how you got there. But as the song says, “calling your name out” and “drinking my way out” of life or hell – it’s not clear until you listen to ‘Destroy Me’ and ‘Dionysus’ and hear the links to those songs.

The song ‘Destroy Me’ is probably self-explanatory. The line “get me out of this hell” says it all. The song has a heavy breakdown that comes at the end. The following song ‘Dionysus’, name-checking the Greek God of drunkenness, madness and religious ecstasy, is probably the heaviest track on the EP. Its hefty drum-and-basslines move quickly into the lyrical verse with that beautiful clean singing voice. Then, the snarling riffs hit the chorus that is full of catharsis and celebration. Even its cataclysmic breakdown feels uplifting.

The EP closes with the baroque piano melody underscoring the song ‘Conclave’, about love lasting into the afterlife as it takes the listener full circle back to the opening song. The Conclave in reality is a room where people fight it out to be the next Emperor of Rome, or as it later became, the Catholic Church, and it is still wielding global domination. The contrast between the two meanings is breathtakingly good. The warning in the song is about holding onto control – it will elude you and destroy you in the end. You have to “learn the hard way” in life. And the message is simple: love is all there is and the only thing left.

PRESIDENT is making a statement in this EP. It is pushing deliciously contrary ideas into the world through metaphor, images and music while sticking it to the prevailing political climate. “Will I see you in the afterlife?”. If the afterlife is what PRESIDENT imagines, I hope so.