Precious Child - Bloody Knees

Precious Child

Bloody Knees
self-released; 2015

3.4 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Precious Child is a Baltimore based three-piece band comprised of Precious (vocals, songwriting, guitar), Daniel Wyatt (bass) and Skyler (drums). Their first release Bloody Knees is a fairly straightforward metal album with occasional deviations into other closely related genres. The band has only been around for about a year and a half and seems to still be in the phase of finding their own sound. A number of the songs feel reminiscent of particular bands. Take for instance the first track “Past.” 

The comparison to Tool or Perfect Circle is evident within the guitar riffs and to a lesser extent the vocal delivery. From a lyrical standpoint Precious delves into subject matter that is most prevalent with dark metal. He glances into his tortured soul and laments about it through a large lens. Lines like, “My whole life I thought I was whole What I thought was wrong Now my world is gone” and “All these years I’ve wasted my time With all these feelings Remaining inside” are the kinds of sentiments that Precious continues to meditate upon throughout the remaining songs. 

“I Fall” delves further into Tool-esque type territory. The music conjures imagery of masonic temples and artwork by Alex Grey. The song is fairly predictable, as it gets more intense as it progresses. The lead guitar ascends while more drums are harder and more frequently.

“Always Leave” is where you start to realize that Precious Child have all the hallmarks of a young band still trying to find their way. The song deviates from metal and instead fits into a Dropkick Murphys style punk song. Precious continues to concentrate on his own personal experience - looking inward. He sings, “I am living in my world on my own I just have me I'm alone.”

The song “Firey Road” continues to stray away from the initial metal they opened the album with. Towards the end of the song they get heavy but the song could easily be labeled as grunge or alternative. The band gets back into the metal vibe with the next two tracks “There Alone” and “My Little Problem.” 

“There Alone” displays the most original and unique lyrics on the album. Lines like “slipping me the middle finger armed me with complacency bribed me with the disposition of an apathetic man” and “the agent of my destruction the superior bred spawn of mine a mistake in the formation, a victory over size” were a step above some the ubiquitous lyrics we heard on previous songs.

Precious Child has talent and skill but still have their work cut out for them to separate from an oversaturated genre. They are largely a case of wait and see to see if they have what it takes to hang with some of the more notable metal acts in music. 

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