Today, Kings Of Mercia share “Don’t Ask” – the first single from their sophomore album, Battle Scars, due October 25 via Metal Blade Records. A new music video accompanies the track.
Now and again, art offers up the perfect storm. When creative worlds collide with a furious cacophony of power, licks, and lyrics, magic happens. Such is the case with Kings Of Mercia, whose second album, Battle Scars, is the continuation of a story as unlikely as it is glorious. The band is helmed by guitarist Jim Matheos (Fates Warning) and singer Steve Overland (FM) who are joined by drummer Simon Phillips (The Who, Toto) and bassist Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning).
“Don’t Ask” is described by singer Steve Overland as an “angsty love song” with lyrics including: “You could believe in anything you wanted to believe; We were all free to be whatever we wanted to be.”
“We found our feet with this album. This is the Kings Of Mercia evolving. People think you can pigeonhole rock music fans, but they just like good songs and good music,” Overland says.
Watch the music video for “Don’t Ask” below.
Kings Of Mercia’s 2022 approachable, world-class self-titled debut was termed “truly a hybrid: it’s heavy, but not metal. It’s got tones of melodic AOR hard rock but with an edge.” Now, 2024 brings the band’s sophomore album written and recorded throughout 2023, Battle Scars sees the core writing team of Matheos and Overland expanding on their obvious chemistry.
“I think it was a bit easier this time around because we’ve established a good working rhythm,” states Matheos, “I’ll send Steve at least a few songs every couple of months, and I try to keep them varied. This allows him to work on whichever ones he feels strongly about.”
“What Jim sends me is the first draft of that song,” says Overland. “So once he’s heard all the melodies and the harmonies I sing, he can chop it about and make it how he thinks it should be. He always sends me three or four different versions. He’ll say, ‘What do you think? Which do you like?’ Then we work it out between us and come up with the one we’re both happy with.”
“Steve and I started working together in 2021,” says Matheos. “I was aware of FM-they came up around the same time as Fates Warning – but I’d lost touch with them and wasn’t familiar with their more recent work. When Steve was recommended to me, I checked out some of the newer releases and felt Steve was exactly what I was looking for.”
“It’s a different genre of music that I’m normally involved in,” says Overland, whose voice has been likened to other British greats Paul Rodgers and Glenn Hughes. “Obviously, I’d heard of Fates Warning – they’re a very big cult band in their field. Jim and I touched base, and I told him to send me one backing track. If it sounds great, then it’s a win-win. If it doesn’t, we’ll just call it a day, knock it on the head, not take it any further. That song became ‘Humankind’ from the first album. I wrote the melodies and the title and put it all together. Jim got it and he was blown away. So we made a couple more. I loved doing it. It was just such a different challenge for me.”
Those songs would become the self-titled debut album, which was released in 2022. Written during lockdown, bouncing tracks across the Atlantic, Kings Of Mercia found its mojo. Fans of Fates Warning, FM, and Armored Saint all rejoiced at the common ground on Kings Of Mercia, the sweet spot in the middle of the Venn diagram.
It’s a true collaboration that has led to KOM’s Battle Scars. However, despite the unfolding sound and clear chemistry between the four Kings, Overland has never met his bandmates in person. ‘Battle Scars,’ like its predecessor, is a slab of transatlantic magic.
Pre-order Battle Scars here.
Battle Scars tracklisting:
“Guns And Ammunition”
“Eye For An Eye”
“Between Two Worlds”
“Legend”
“Battle Scars”
“Don’t Ask”
“Aftermath”
“Hell ‘N’ Back”
“Cold”
“Angels & Demons”
“Don’t Ask” video:
Kings Of Mercia are:
Jim Matheos – Guitars
Steve Overland – Vocals
Simon Phillips – Drums
Joey Vera – Bass