Fit for a King, also known as FFAK, is an American metalcore band from Tyler, Texas formed in 2007. The band comprises drummer Jared Easterling, vocalist Ryan Kirby, bassist Ryan "Tuck" O'Leary and guitarist Daniel Gailey. Easterling is the only member of the original line-up that remains in the band. They released two independent EPs entitled Fit for a King in 2008 and Awaken the Vesper in 2009. They also released one independent album, Descendants, in 2011. After the band getting signed to Solid State Records, they released four studio albums through this label: Creation/Destruction, Slave to Nothing, Deathgrip and Dark Skies. Their upcoming sixth studio album, The Path, is set for release on September 18, 2020.
History
Independent days (2007–2012)
Fit for a King was formed in Tyler, Texas in 2007 by Jared Easterling, Aaron Decur, Justin Juno, Jared McFerron, Alex Danforth and Jed McNeill. The band had performed locally and regionally and released two EPs in their beginning years. In 2009, the band decided to begin touring full-time, and McNeill and McFerron left the band to pursue their education. Ryan Kirby from the band Bodies Awake joined the band in 2010 to replace Mason Wilson, who had recently replaced Danforth as the frontman. Kirby's Bodies Awake bandmate Bobby Lynge joined the band to play guitar. The band tracked their first independent debut studio album, Descendants, in 2011. With the release of their music video "Ancient Waters", the band started to gain a following. Bassist Decur left the band in 2011 to pursue a career in law enforcement and was replaced by Aaron Kadura who performed clean vocals alongside Easterling as well.
In July 2012, the band had signed to Solid State Records. They released their second studio album Creation/Destruction on March 12, 2013 which also their first album through this label. The album sold more than 3,100 copies in its first week of sales. Billboard charted Creation/Destruction at No. 175, No. 17 on the Christian Albums chart, and No. 6 on the Hard Rock Albums. In 2013, the band released the redux of their independent debut studio album, Descendants, which came out on November 25, 2013. Billboard charted Descendants at No. 38 on the Christian Albums chart, and at No. 8 on the Heatseekers Albums chart. The band's third studio album, Slave to Nothing, was released on October 14, 2014 along with three singles including "Slave to Nothing" featuring Mattie Montgomery of For Today. The band released their fourth studio album Deathgrip on October 7, 2016. The band announced their fifth studio album, Dark Skies, which was released on September 14, 2018. With this announcement the band also released the first single, "Tower of Pain", on June 1, 2018. This single was then followed by four other singles, "The Price of Agony", "Backbreaker", "When Everything Means Nothing" and "Oblivion". On September 30, 2018, Bobby Lynge announced he would part ways with the band on good terms, citing a need to be with his family and an interest in new business ventures. However, Lynge says he'll still be involved in the writing process for the band's next album and he doesn't exclude to go on tour again with the band. On February 13, 2020, the band unveiled a new single titled "Breaking the Mirror" along with an accompanying lyric video. On May 14, after unveiling some artworks the prior couple days, the band announced during the global COVID-19 pandemic a surprise collaboration with We Came as Romans. The collaboration will include both bands' vocalists being featured on reworked version of their recent tracks and both bands will also release a limited merch line to promote the collaboration. On July 8, the band announced that their new upcoming sixth studio album The Path is set for release on September 18, 2020. At the same time, they also revealed the album cover, the track list, and release date. On July 10, the band released the second single "God of Fire" featuring Ryo Kinoshita of Crystal Lake.
