Single Review: King of the Ring

Originally hailing from Bangladesh, Jadukor (which literally means magician in Bengali) is a global citizen who now calls Aotearoa, New Zealand home. The previous sentence is about all that is known about this mysterious solo act, and that is exactly how he wants it. Performing in extensive face paint and keeping his social media extremely tight-lipped, this air of intrigue has worked wonders for many artists before him and works well for Jadukor too. If there are any clues lingering around regarding this magician’s true identity, they are extremely subtle.

New single, entitled King of the Ring, despite being only his second release, sees producer, singer, and songwriter Jadukor in comfortable territory with another blistering, confident, lean, and powerful alt-metal/rock offering. Supporting this new track is a powerful, beautifully shot and well-acted video that tackles exclusion, racism, discrimination, and basic human rights head-on in a tight ~ 4:40min story-based video.

After setting the scene with an introduction liberally peppered with shimmery guitar and keyboards, the song bursts into life like an alt-rock Frankenstein’s monster with massive guitars, bass, and drums rapidly establishing the rush of energy that carries the track. Launching into the dominant, anthemic, and very hooky chorus melody early and establishing the powerful, emotive, vocal hook is a very good move. This chorus is the primary anchor of this track, and Jadukor’s clear understanding of this is a key strength in the overall structure of this track.

However, it is the contrast between these anthemic choruses and the rapid-fire verse delivery, which features a vocal styling best described as words being spat out in a punk-esque near growl), that – for me – gives this song its character and replayability. The verses are, in contrast to the choruses, so dirty, rough, angry, nasty, and I love it. There is a sense that the verse is near the edge of chaos, just barely being held back, and when coupled with the next pre-chorus/chorus movement, it gives a great sense of the light and shade / chaos and order dynamic that great drama, magic, and music needs.

The production is solid. The instruments sound fantastic. The guitars have the classic “guitar and a massive Marshall stack turned up damn loud” tone, the bass is tight and growls just right, and the drums are punchy in the right ways. The vocals, however, hold the pride of place and they stand out just right. It is clear that they are the primary focus of the track, but that focus does not serve as a distraction, but rather a nice separation between vocals and instrumentation.

Overall, this is a solid alt-rock/metal release. It will sit nicely on the upcoming album and should definitely keep Jadukor’s converts happy while also connecting with a wider audience also.