Calgary hard rock outfit Prisoner have announced their sophomore full-length Kill the King, set for release on June 20, 2025. The album marks a turning point for the band, both creatively and collaboratively, and will be supported by a string of Canadian tour dates stretching from British Columbia to Ontario.
The new material arrives five years after the band first emerged and just two years after a string of singles began carving out their presence in the national rock scene. But Kill the King is being framed as something more cohesive and intentional. “This is a direct representation of who we are as a band in 2025,” said vocalist and primary songwriter Murray Emery. “Everything released previously… was the work of myself as a teenager still learning my instrument and craft.” This time, the entire band had a hand in shaping the sound from the ground up, writing and recording the album in just five months.
Recorded in Calgary at Crooks Hollow Studio, Kill the King was produced by Emery, Cody Anstey (Osyron), and Reed Alton (In Vertigo), with mixing handled at Clarity Recording Studio and mastering by Tyler Corbett (Red Cain, Osyron). Lead single “Lost in Control,” released earlier this spring, received playlist support from Apple Music’s Breaking Metal and coverage in Exclaim! and Distorted Sound.
Musically, the band draws on a wide palette—from the heavy groove of Sabbath to the precision riffing of Megadeth and Priest—with a modern edge. That blend has already won them fans across Western Canada, and this summer’s tour will give them their most expansive run yet.
Prisoner’s lineup—Emery on vocals, Marco Cioffi on guitar, Trevor Macdonald on bass, and Karl Pflug on drums—first formed in 2020. Their sound leans into classic rock and metal while avoiding nostalgia for its own sake. Thematically, Kill the King taps into a mix of personal unrest and broader social unease, though it stops short of outright protest.
The band kicks off their tour May 27 in Kelowna and wraps August 17 at Toronto’s Bovine Sex Club. No Quebec dates have been announced yet.
