Originally Published on February 24th

~ About the Artist ~

The other day, I reached out to folks on Threads to see if anyone would be interested in a listening exchange; we would go onto Bandcamp and listen to each other’s music, then leave comments in hopes others would be able to see and we could all potentially gain new listeners. As with most attempts to promote or encourage through social media, there wasn’t a huge response to this idea. However, there were some that showed an interest in participating. For instance, the artist, kingtriumph agreed to listen and comment. I know that he and I had exchanged a couple of comments in Threads before, but I hadn’t ever listened to his music. So, not knowing what to expect, I dove right in.

Theo, aka kingtriumph, is an independent recording artist from the great Pacific Northwest, currently residing in Olympia, Washington. Musically, kingtriumph’s sound is mostly comparable to progressive and alternative rock. Earlier releases have been more organic but as he has released more music, there has been more synth implemented into his body of work. Listening to his debut album, Everything’s Fine, there are things that stick out. For instance, the harmonies in the sophomore slump sound very similar to vocal harmonies that one might hear in some of NIN’s releases. I wouldn’t say his music sounds like NIN, though. It’s definitely an influence, but his music is his own sound, for sure.

2026 is looking to be an exciting year for kingtriumph. He has ambitiously announced a plan to release a 4-song EP every month for the entire year. In January, he released the EP, HERE THERE BE LIONS, and at the beginning of February, he released BIAS. 48 new songs is an ambitious goal, but he’s already on pace to do this, and the music that has been produced from the first two EP’s has been very exciting. This all bodes well for listeners who might be stumbling across kingtriumph’s work.

~ About the Music ~

As stated, BIAS is a 4-song EP that released via Bandcamp on February 6th. It has a run time of around 13 minutes. It features vocal and instrumental performances by kingtriumph, as well as independently engineering and producing the work.

BIAS opens with the song No Answer, an eerie, mid-tempo work that has a large prog rock influence. One thing I really love about the production of this song is understanding that kingtriumph programs the percussion. I’ve found that when a lot of producers program percussion, they often do too much or too little. Most of the time, those new to production do to little as they haven’t learned how to properly produce percussion yet. Then, once they have started to figure it out, they begin to overcompensate. Here, kingtriumph has demonstrated perfect execution as the percussion is perfect. The entire mix fits incredibly well together, for that matter. I love how present the vocals are. It is really easy to bury vocals with progressive rock, but the blend is wonderful here.

With Seas, kingtriumph’s ambitious approach reaches new levels. This song sounds like the product of a co-produced record between NIN and Radiohead. The rhythm of the percussion and the guitars is complex, but then the piano and vocals just sort of take their own approach over the rest of the work. Synth strings layer behind the vocals and there is a haunting dissonance that is prominent throughout the work.

The third song, Fires, is almost industrial. The percussion is again, disciplined. The instruments play off of this reliable beat and take liberties to include rhythmic complexities of their own to make this another unique work on the record. This song has has influences that remind me of Daft Punk.

The closing song, Vultures, is an epic finale to the release. Where the other songs were just under 3 minutes each, this song comes in at just under 5 and a half minutes. It has the same prog sound as the other three, but like the other three has a slight variance to its influence. This one is in the chorus, but I hear a subtle nod to U2. Particularly the guitars. It’s a big sound; dynamic, driving, and extraordinary.

~ Final Thoughts ~

There is a variety of exposure for each of the artists I feature on Fifteen Minutes of Fame. Some artists have monthly listeners in the millions. Others may only have a hundred or less. I am checking kingtriumph’s Spotify profile today, and it says there are 16 monthly listeners there. It makes me feel like I am part of one of the best kept secrets in music, but it shouldn’t be a secret. There is a huge audience for this style of music and, if they were to hear these songs, I have no doubt that new listeners would be drawn to what kingtriumph does.

The music industry isn’t driven by talent, though. It’s driven by money. Artists aren’t discovered by word of mouth, they’re discovered by how much money they’re willing to pay to be featured on playlists. There has to be some talent there, of course, but companies like Spotify aren’t concerning themselves with helping new artists find their audience for free.

I would love it if FMOF became a resource for people to discover talented artists like kingtriumph. A place where people can come to read articles about musicians, releases, and other draws that they can link to their own interests. This artist is a talented musician. The amount of monthly listeners he has is a very poor representation of the quality of his work. It simply tells me that this music is not being heard by the right audience. Listeners like familiarity. It’s challenging to break these molds. However, I think if they gave this musician a chance, they would be impressed. I had no idea what kingtriumph sounded like a week ago. Now, I can’t get enough of it.

Let’s stop relying on what Spotify, Amazon, and Apple Music tells us to listen to. Let’s start relying on our peers.

Go press play!