Every 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. When guitarist Jim Matheos of prog-metal powerhouse Fates Warning made it known to a few close friends that he was writing songs for a brand-new project, word got to English journalist Dave Ling, who put Matheos in touch with singer Steve Overland of Brit hard rockers FM. Sparks flew. The duo then recruited drummer Simon Phillips (The Who, Toto) and bassist Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning).

2022’s 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.” And 2024 brings Battle Scars, the sophomore album featuring “Don’t Ask” and the epic “Aftermath” as the first singles. 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 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 led to KOM’s singles from 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. From it emerges the first single, “Don’t Ask.” Overland describes the track 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.”

The second pre-release single, “Aftermath,” is “very dark,” Overland says. “It’s about what will be left behind in the end. What will be left on the planet. It’s a very dark track, and very dark subject matter.”  “I almost didn’t send this one to Steve, and when I did I was certain he wouldn’t like it,” adds Matheos. “I’m glad I did though, as it’s one of my favorites on the album now. It’s quite different for us and I think Steve really shines on this one.”

On Battle Scars’ release day comes the title track. “That’s about post-war distress syndrome,” says Overland. “It’s about a guy who comes back from fighting and can’t really deal with real life. He realizes that he can never be what he was before he went away and did this. But he really, really wants to, but he’s trying to get that across to everybody that loves him. But the problem isn’t him–it’s what he’s been through. I came up with the title ‘Battle Scars,’ and I think that suggested the subject matter.”

Overland is convinced that Battle Scars is the record which sees the quartet of seasoned players fully coalesced. “I think we’ve found what Kings of Mercia are,” the singer says. “You’ve got the ‘Battle Scars,’ the title track, which is a real melancholy, sad song. That’s what I like about it – I never really know what I’m going to get from Jim. 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,” says Overland. “Most of the response to the first record was off the charts. Fingers crossed with this one–we want to really push it to another level, and then carry on. That’s what I love to do.”