Those of you who know us will appreciate our authentic display of affection over the years when it comes to Fit For A King. We’ve grown up with this Texan metalcore band who have climbed to the peak of the metalcore genre over the last decade and a half. Sensibly, averaging a studio album every couple of years, the five-piece have offered their full selves to fans and created certified belters that have stood the test of time, balancing pure emotion with gut-tearing heaviness.
We’ve fallen in love with these guys because of their personalities too. From frontman Ryan Kirby’s eclectic vocal style amidst his sweetheart demeanour offstage, to the other Ryan ‘Tuck’ O'Leary who now owns a signature bass spin-move that he and the band are iconically known for. Fit For A King are also finally heading back down under in January 2026 supporting The Plot In You, alongside Boundaries and our very own Banks Arcade. Ahead of the epic breakdown-bringer, the Texans are releasing their eighth record Lonely God next week - August 1st via Solid State Records. The album will feature a mighty five singles already released.
So, with an AoTY contender and Aussie tour on the cards, we're celebrating this godly band with a feature on 7 of their heaviest anthemic wreckers that have really cemented them viscerality in the scene. Get warmed up with debut record Descendents from 2011 and we’ll take care of the rest.
#1 ‘Warpath’
Stepping into a time machine, I’ve clicked back into the year 2013... Many of the OG fans will swear by some of Fit For A King’s earlier material, like the heavier and rawer tunes on Creation/Destruction. With Kirby only on backing vocals at this early stage of the band, ‘Warpath’ sees a low budget FFAK unload a bundle of aggression with Kirby’s maturing growls spill over chaotic riffs and squeals with one of those signature catchy choruses that’ll forever eclipse your attention.
“I AM THE ENEMY” - this breakdown call in particular will wreak havoc in your home. The beginning of a metalcore love affair.
#2 ‘Slave to Nothing’
As we turn the key back in the ignition, we quickly stop in 2014, only 18 months after their aforementioned sophomore record and sit with Slave to Nothing. With Kirby now the frontman and Tuck in the band (perhaps already practicing those tornado spins), the band dropped title-track ‘Slave to Nothing’ featuring For Today’s Mattie Montgomery.
While still considered the band’s early days, Fit For A King are building a muscle. With stronger melodies and an unforgiving alternate to their heavy tendencies, they deliver a brutal anthem that old school fans will appreciate. With Kirby and Montgomery riffing vocally on a down-tuned track, the rest of the band are covertly building up to something epic.
“I HOPE YOU ROT” - as gnarly as it is angry. The breakdown is brief, succinct and effective and then slips back to a melodic outro that hits with a *chef's kiss*
#3 ‘Pissed Off’
2016 feels like a bit of a pivotal period with Fit For A King. For fans that weren’t across their preceding records in a flurry of 2010s metalcore, Deathgrip was commonly the one to pique curiosity and lift the Texans into a new tier.
The record resulted in some epic breakdowns and broader musical maturity from the group, who dropped an 11 track thumper, and had some sweet features from the likes of August Burns Red and Miss May I. However, it’s neither of the two songs with features that are making this list today, but rather ‘Pissed Off’, an opening track following the ominous intro ‘The End’s Beginning’.
With even more comfort setting in, Fit For A King double down on the heavy for this one, without an etch of clean vocals. It’s tracks like these where you start to appreciate Kirby’s ability to hold a scream or growl for ages at a time without a breath.
“WE ARE SLAVES TO NOTHING, BUT THE BLOOD ON OUR HANDS” - enter a crunchy breakdown, that this time lasts a lifetime with a purging roar that is everlasting and a sample of where Fit For A King confidentally enters deathcore territory.
#4 ‘When Everything Means Nothing’
My favourite and most unforgettable era of Fit For A King. 2018’s Dark Skies is where this band go mainstream in the heavy community. At this point they’re up there with some of the biggest growing metalcore bands in the world. With a slew of memorable bangers like ‘Backbreaker’ and ‘Oblivion’ it’s hard to get past penultimate anthem ‘When Everything Means Nothing’.
This track truly has it all. It has the emotion, the intensity, the build, the crescendo - and you’re on the journey for it all. The mid-album track has well-seasoned cleans and carefully heartfelt songwriting that eclipses your attention from the get-go. Then instantly, they flip the track on its head and propel that electric metalcore brutality they’re now known for. However, it’s the anthemic chorus that will bring any fan to their knees.
“LET THIS DESTROY ME” - bounce. Drums, bass, riffs, gutturals - the works. This breakdown is possibly the band’s best of their career to date, my personal favourite, hands down - and even better to hear live or while smashing your PB on your neighbourhood run.
#5 ‘God of Fire’
Doesn’t the track-name say it all? Fit For A King exit their explosive era and enter pandemic fueled record The Path when the world needed it most - and the production was inch perfect. With now-vocalist of Knosis (but at the time Crystal Lake), Japanese vocal demon Ryo Kinoshita joins the band for ‘God of Fire’. If you’re up for the ultimate metalcore recipe, this is it man to eleveate your music to unfathomable heights.
With ominous-electro modernised styles seeping into the band’s repertoire, a heavily mixed and distorted voice cracks into an avalanche of guitars. The bass is now really heavy, and smacks you in the face the way Fit For A King’s prior material was intended. Kirby’s vocals are becoming incredibly defined, and with Kinoshita - the two are indestructible on this track.
“BOW DOWN TO THE GOD OF FIRE” - is repeated as the pressure builds throughout the track. The drums are deafening and growing to an unmanageable level. As you breathe in anticipation, they drop the breakdown and the earthquake begins to immediately quench your thirst.
#6 ‘Reaper’
Now, we could just pull up stumps in 2022 with The Hell We Create where Fit For A King are earnestly one of the biggest metalcore bands on the planet, alongside peers like Parkway Drive, I Prevail, Falling In Reverse and Beartooth.
It’s difficult to highlight the right track from this record to showcase, but it has to be ‘Reaper’. Whilst it’s easy to revel in the title track, ‘Eyes Roll Back’ and more, it’s the crunchiness of this number that’ll leave you with palpitations. BURST is the adjective here with the entire band exploding with energy immediately. ‘Reaper’ sees Kirby balance the rough and polished approach to his growl against the band’s harmonious blend of pandemonium.
“TRAPPED IN INFINITY, LET ME OUT” - Ryan Kirby purges against grinding cymbals and riffs like algae thriving in moisture.
#7 ‘Witness The End’
As we prepare for Fit For A King’s impending new record Lonely God, we're caught sifting through the band's plethora of singles to promote it, including ‘Lonely God’ and ‘Technium’ (with The Plot In You’s Landon Tewers), but, it’s time to bask in the madness of ‘Witness The End’, featuring the one and only Chris Motionless - a pretty fresh number to hit the internet's airwaves.
The new single sees Fit For A King collaborate with one the best in the game - Motionless in White - for a track that fuses technicality with brutality. The four-minute banger kicks off symphonically as Kirby and the band blister into annihilation, almost like it’s written for the MIW demon. With a singalong chorus true to form, the band prove they’re still doing what they do best with the epitome of balance.
Technically speaking, this feels like some of the band’s best. Carefully written riffs, and an impressive tempo of variation precedes Chris Motionless’ iconic vocals kicking in for a verse before the band groove in that catchy catharsis. Then comes the build, the anxiety and the inevitable gurn-inducing moment of glory.
“DON’T LET ME GO, DELIVER ME DIVINITY” - the two metalcore vocalists roar as the technical veracity continues to the end, captivating and drawing us in to wonder what else they've got cooking.
If these tracks are not enough to get your blood pumping then take your own ride through Fit For A King’s discography, because I promise you’ll fall in love with what was missed. What would you add?
Words by Ricky Aarons @rickysaul90
Lonely God releases August 1st via Solid State Records. Pre-order here
Fit For A King - Lonely God tracklisting
1. Begin The Sacrifice
2. The Temple
3. Extinction
4. No Tomorrow
5. Sentient
6. Monolith (Feat. Lochie Keogh)
7. Lonely God
8. Between Us
9. Blue Venom
10. Technium (Feat. Landon Tewers)
11. Shelter
12. Witness The End (Feat. Chris Motionless)
