Photo Credit: Joshua Halling
Words: Cara Clarke

“A line on the table, a gun with a target met // No need to shoot it now, I’m not infectious yet,” 

In ‘Blood of your Empire’ electronica metalcore band President grapple with their own experience of religion, ultimately critiquing how the human race has twisted it for their own purpose. 

If you’re a fan of hybrid genres, religious ponderings and witty linguistics this album is for you. 

Relatively new to the scene, the anonymous band made their debut appearance at the UK’s Download festival in 2025, appearing onstage in black masks whilst the lead singer emerged head to toe in a presidential costume complete with an unnerving silicone face. 

Adding to the cryptic atmosphere the band were accompanied by the eerie soundtrack of the 1952 ‘I Like Ike’ ad produced for Eisenhower’s presidential campaign, a motif which was repeated at their 2026 Hellfest performance, creating a clear link between the band’s message and presidential propaganda. 

Committed to their anonymity the band members have vowed to keep their names hidden , responding to the pseudonyms The President (vocalist), Heist (guitarist), Protest (bassist) and Vice (drummer). 

Whilst religious anxieties is not a new theme within Presidents music, originating from their 2025 EP ‘King of Terrors’, President claim the purpose behind ‘Blood of your Empire’ is to understand the complexities of religion, be it their personal struggles or wider realisations. 

President spoke on this in relation to track 3, ‘dark heaven’, they said: ‘dark heaven’ is a reflection on the contradictions of faith, and how something intended to unite humanity has so often been used to justify division, violence, and power. It’s about the way greed can wear the mask of righteousness. 

“It isn’t an attack on belief itself; it’s about searching for something real beneath the noise, and asking what remains when certainty begins to crumble.” 

Coinciding with their remarks, ‘dark heaven’ offers a deep criticism of religious weaponization throughout history. The track makes repetitive reference to gun violence e.g. ‘You just bless the gun and teach the young to pull the trigger’ and war spoils, ‘Weigh the blood in carats’. 

As a whole it’s reminiscent of a war cry focusing on a heavy drum beat and repeating the chorus ‘gather round children sing hallelujah’. 

Other standout tracks in terms of message include track 1 ‘Angel Wings’, track 2 ‘Doom Loop’ and track 5 ‘Mercy’. 

Based on message ‘Doom Loop’ is likely the most relevant to wider audiences warning listeners to be present in their life and covet their time before ‘the final sleep’.

The track opens with a dystopian message from a botlike speaker stating, ‘the tragedy of time is that we only understand its value after it’s become a memory,’ before descending into synth. 

Meanwhile, ‘Angel Wings’ is the owner of the opening lyric to this review, demonstrating President’s mental battle with religion through lyrics such as ‘I stopped dreaming in colours, just seeing new shades of black’ and ‘I could be faithless, I could be holy’. President utilise their mash up genre beautifully in this piece, cutting between screaming metalcore and idyllic electronica to create an image of conflict. 

Last on my list is ‘Mercy’. This is another track that discusses human error, President uses the metaphors ‘There’s a poison in your ivy // And sand in your soap’ to emphasise the darker side of religion. In combination with the chorus line ‘It’s not enough for you to save me now // Cause where was your hand when I was always screaming out?’ President drives home that religion has been utilised to create irreversible damage. 

On a whole President have produced a great album. I think the message behind ‘Blood of your Empire’ is very accessible to both religious and non-religious fans, however some references do go amiss. The combination of electronica and metacore feels new and really makes the album stand out.