San Antonio hard rock band Kingdom Collapse is back with a new single, “Break Free”, which was released July 8th, 2022. It’s yet another banger for this quartet, which keeps producing songs that are not only brilliant musically, but also resonate with listeners who are struggling in their lives.
Kingdom Collapse includes Jonathan Norris (vocals), Aaron Smith (bass), David Work (guitar, backing vocals), and Elijah Santucci (drums). “Break Free” comes on the heels of the well-received “Save Me From Myself” that was released earlier this year. This new track already has had over 31,000 spins on Spotify and the official music video had almost 3,500 views in the first 72 hours after it was released July 20th. “Break Free” is the fourth Kingdom Collapse song to be featured on the SiriusXM Octane Test Drive, and the fifth KC song overall to be played on the hard rock station. This latest tune was on the Test Drive July 7th and added to the regular rotation July 11th. Earlier this month Kingdom Collapse was the featured artist on the official Pandora NEW ROCK playlist. The video will be featured in The Sound 228 Grudge Match July 27th.
“Break Free” starts out with softer vocals by Norris, but the listener can tell that it’s going to build up to something heavy. Sure enough, the tempo picks up with the intricate guitar riffs and pounding drums Kingdom Collapse is known for. One of the notable parts of the song is the heavy breakdown, which gets the listener headbanging and is a fan favorite.
According to Norris, “Break Free” is “about breaking free from whatever situation in your life that’s holding you down. That way you can move on and live again.”
The video for "Break Free" was done by Kreuked Media and stars singer/musician Cody Canada of The Departed along with his son, Dierks from the band Waves. It perfectly reflects the overall theme of suffering from being trapped in a bad situation that you have to get out of. It features a mental patient (Cody) wearing a hospital gown and oxygen mask who is clearly in distress, struggling to breathe. There is a demon (Dierks) who is trying to control him. Finally, at the end, the man is able to break free from the demon and the oxygen mask, and, ironically, he is able to breathe again. The video also incorporates scenes of the band playing the song, including an unexpected and exciting twist of Norris on the guitar, which is a cool thing for longtime Kingdom Collapse fans to see.
Kingdom Collapse was recently on tour earlier this year with From Ashes To New and Fire From The Gods as well as Adelita’s Way. Currently, the band is part of the Attack Attack! and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus tour. There are also multiple headlining dates coming up. Recently announced was a show with Nothing More and Sleep Token at The Sunshine Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico August 30th, as well as dates in August with Giovannie and The Hired Guns and September with Hinder.
Kingdom Collapse can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and the band's website.
<Annie Schlottman>