Having made their live debut at 2025’s Download festival, the buzz that appearance generated might make PRESIDENT seem like an overnight sensation. However, the band (originating as a solo project) were several years in gestation, honing their craft which meant that when they burst onto Download’s Dogtooth Stage, they arrived fully formed. Of course, the nature of their arrival means that their debut album, Blood Of Your Empire, comes heavily laden with an almost impossible weight of expectation. Featuring ten tracks that blend metalcore and electronica in the most sublime way, PRESIDENT will get your vote with Blood Of Your Empire.
Bands hiding behind masks and obscuring their identities is nothing new; from Alice Cooper and Kiss wearing make-up and using pseudonyms to Slipknot and their serial killer disguises, an opaque identity can turn the listener’s attention towards the music and lyrical themes contained within, and when it comes to Blood Of Your Empire, that’s exactly where our attention should be. Expanding the themes and motifs found on their debut EP, King Of Terrors, PRESIDENT’s first album is a record that bleeds an existential crisis and examines humanities complicated relationship with religion. It’s heady stuff, for sure, but the band are wise enough to wrap their musings up in some of the most sublime melodies and the result is a record that exists on two levels. On the surface opening track ‘Angel Wings’ (indeed, the whole album) is a blast of modern metalcore that employs light and shade to great effect and is sure to ignite pits wherever unleashed. Yet, there’s a lyrical depth operating at a deeper level; it might only be detected subliminally (whilst moshing to those beats) but it will bleed into your subconscious nevertheless. It makes Blood Of Your Empire the kind of album that attacks your head and heart simultaneously, the crushing guitars found on ‘dark heaven’ instigating movement, the words cerebral musings.
There’s a fluidity in PRESIDENT’s fusing of metalcore and electronica that gives them a lot of freedom. They flit between the two in a way that ties these disparate genres into a cohesive whole; whilst the sonic shifts found on ‘Sleepwalker’ can often be startling (and could wake even the most ardent somnambulist), they are also seamless and segue smoothly, despite the jarring nature. It’s no easy task to master, yet PRESIDENT have a plasticity which finds the band bending themselves out of shape like a musical contortionist.
The buzz surrounding PRESIDENT has created an almost unattainable level of anticipation around anything the band might release. However, debut EP King Of Terrors found them rising to the challenge, whilst Blood Of Your Empire smashes through the ceiling. PRESIDENT is a “politician” you can trust!
- Blood Of Your Empire is released via Atlantic Records on 4th September 2026.
- PRESIDENT Official Website
Track List:
- Angel Wings
- DOOM LOOP
- dark heaven
- Pink Noise
- Mercy
- Sleepwalker
- Dionysus
- This Will Divide Us
- Hate Figure (feat. Ando San)
- White Devil
