Fit for a King know how to get mosh pits swirling, and their metalcore hooks are top-tier. But what ultimately puts the Christian act over the top is their gravitas. The Texas band—who spent six years in the underground trenches before signing with Solid State Records in 2012—pack their albums with clean and dirty vocals gripped with emotion and lyrics born of spiritual contemplation. If early records like the 2014 breakout Slave to Nothing frame matters of the soul in moralistic terms, later releases like 2018’s deathcore-informed Dark Skies find vocalist Ryan Kirby filtering his torments through a mental-health lens. Fit for a King even breaks through the storm clouds on occasion; on the 2020 release The Path, Kirby’s increasingly philosophical lyrics are married with hushed synthesisers and triumphant guitars fuelled by profound optimism.