FFO: Volbeat, Avenged Sevenfold, Black Veil Brides
Genre-fusing rock/metal act Underking just released a Star Wars-inspired pop-metal track today January 29th entitled “Shadow I’ve Become“.
As described by sole band member Maxwell Jeffries, Underking started last year and “the project is all over the place genre-wise but mostly sticks within the ‘rock and metal’ spectrum.”
Track review:
Rating: 3.5/5
In all honesty, as a huge Star Wars fan, this track just blew me away.
“Shadow I’ve Become” takes two things I love, Star Wars and metal, and created something absolutely and surely enjoyable even for those that know nothing of about Star Wars. But for the geeks like me, it’s essentially about Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The track itself is a jumble of genres that I can say work well together; mixing elements of melodic metal with subtle hints of classic metal and metalcore to create an emotionally ethereal track. Maxwell Jeffries‘ vocals capture the raw emotions so well that he was perhaps trying to convey with the song and it it honestly made me want to ride off into battle; capturing the sense of epic-ness one can expect from something inspired by Star Wars.
I personally love bands that mix genres so well and after listening to this track, you can bet that Underking is on that personal list of mine.
Listen to the song here:
About the band:
Inspired by fantasy, sci-fi and the heavy metal greats, Maxwell Jeffries’ ‘new wave of classic rock’ style of songwriting burst onto the UK scene in 2020, with the release of Underking’s two debut albums – ‘Ghosts of the Past’ and ‘Amongst the Dead‘.
Written and recorded by Jeffries (with additional screamed vocals on the latter, performed by Arizona-native Dustin Burmeister), the two records were met with positive reviews. Following on from this success, Underking released a trilogy of singles, each displaying different aspects of Jeffries’ musical interests and strengths. ‘The Throne’, an unapologetic nod to his NWOBHM heroes; ‘The Mask’ – a riff-laden thrasher with an extensive solo and ‘Dragon of the West’ – a hard-rock ballad inspired by the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Underking closed a prolific 2020 with the release of single: ‘Embrace the Arcane’. A mid-tempo headbanger, the track saw Jeffries take a more mature approach to writing, with lyrics surrounding the topic of mental health, contained within a fantasy theme. The song also doubled as the first single from Underking’s upcoming third album – scheduled for release later in 2021.
‘Shadow I’ve Become’ (a Star Wars-inspired track releasing on the 29th January) is Jeffries’ most memorable song to date, with a catchy chorus and hard-hitting riffs. The track features artwork by Matthew Capper and was produced by Stephan Waltl of SAW Audio.
Follow Underking here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Underkingband/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_underking_/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Underking20
Website: https://underkingband.wixsite.com/home