Kings of Mercia - Don't Ask (Official Video)

KINGS OF MERCIA are:
Jim Matheos - Guitars
Steve Overland - Vocals
Simon Phillips - Drums
Joey Vera - Bass

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. The band is helmed by guitarist Jim Matheos (Fates Warning) and singer Steve Overland (FM) who are joined by drummer Simon Phillips(The Who, Toto) and bassist Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning).

“Don’t Ask" is described by singer Steve Overland 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.”

"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," Overland says.

KINGS OF MERCIA's 2022 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.” Now, 2024 brings the band's sophomore album 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 of 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 has led to KOM's '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.

Video by:
Simon Ward

[metalbladerecords]

KINGS OF MERCIA are:
Jim Matheos - Guitars (Fates Warning, OSI)
Steve Overland - Vocals (FM)
Simon Phillips - Drums (formerly of Toto, Judas Priest, The Who, + many more)
Joey Vera - Bass (Armored Saint, Fates Warning)

[brendanpearson]

Wow love the track just shows Steve Overland can sing anything & still sound awesome can’t wait for album 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[zakkingram]

I like Steve Overland to sing this way better. What a voice he has! I can't wait for this album to come out.

[TommyLedge]

Simon Phillips - the master of every genre. Great to see... ehm... hear him back in Heavy Rock.

[nonemoreblack]

First time seeing Jim play an SG! As always, killer playing and sophisticated songwriting.

[AChef-n-BBQ]

I thought that was Matheos, very cool to hear him venture adtift from the Fates sound. Good tune

[MichaelKizer]

Don't Ask

Just drift back and remember a time when we had hopes and dreams
A place to last us forever where we'd all live in harmony
No one cared if you were rich or you were poor
But now we're here. We don't live there anymore

Don't ask. Where did the good times go?
That better world that we all came to know
Don't ask. Is this heaven is this hell
Don't ask me for the answers. Cause only time will tell

You could believe in anything you wanted to believe
We were free to be whatever we want to be
Time has passed and they're just faded memories
It couldn't last when human nature takes the lead

Don't ask. Where did the good times go?
That better world that we have come to know
Don't ask. Is this heaven is this hell
Don't ask me for the answers. Cause only time will tell

Have we reached the point of no return?
No time to cry. Will we ever learn?

Don't ask. Where did the good times go?
That better world that we have come to know
Don't ask. Is this heaven is this hell
Don't ask me for the answers. Cause only time will tell
Only time will tell
Don't ask me for the answers. Cause only time will tell

[hermannderiese]

Sooo geil .. die 1. Scheibe war schon mega .. Overland kann halt Alles singen ..

[ChrisReynolds-nf]

Great rock tune! A suggestion would be to add a few nice-looking ladies to the video...

[LeoZ-bd]

For almost half a year I'v been visiting the bands Facebook page almost everyday in hope to find the new music has been realised.

What a great song, dynamic and compact and with the bands signature sound (both instruments and vocals) that made the first album so great. Looking forward for the new album even more!

Greetings to the whole band from Finland and Russia!

P.s. It would be so interesting to hear the band performing live. What would you think about a live multicamera band performance ?

[yulog]

This is the best song on the album, but that's not saying much . This is by far his weakest effort in years. Hoping for much better from the new Lonerider cd.