I’ve always had a soft spot for Bon Jovi (believe it or not) because that group displays a self-awareness that lets you know that they are sort of in on the joke. I mention this because I Am Empire sounds, to my ears at least, like an updated Bon Jovi with a fair heap of My Chemical Romance thrown into the mix.

Except, crucially, they are utterly serious. This ultimately sabotages Kings. At times the album does threaten to achieve lift-off with one or two memorable glam-rock riffs, but at every turn vocalist Augustin Lyon’s whiny, Axel Rose-meets-Gerard Way vocals drag proceedings down.

Lyon utilises his annoying vocals to sing about how other people have wronged him in a way that comes across as pretty immature. On “Saints and Sinners” he rails against someone he perceives as hypocritical, and on “Hammers and Anvils” it’s alienation (“Only a few have ever really seen my pain”).

Occasionally there’s a shallow lyrical platitude thrown God’s way, but that only manages to highlight the shallowness of the entire album.

Two out of five stars