Fit For A King’s track-by-track guide to new album The Hell We Create

What do most artists do when they go through trauma? Write about them. That couldn’t be more true for Fit For A King frontman Ryan Kirby, who has penned the band’s “deepest and most personal record” ever in The Hell We Create following an unimaginably tough time during the pandemic.

Detailing his experiences – “In short, my wife and I adopted children and had to homeschool them. She almost died from a stroke,” he recalls – as a way to “raise self-awareness”, here the singer dives deeper into the inspiration and messages behind each song…

“This song encompasses the overall meaning of the record, and the stories that it covers. We have the ability to create hell for ourselves and/or for others, based on our thoughts/actions. Whether it’s suffering from anxiety over things that will never happen or aren’t true. Or making poor decisions, such as the ones that resulted in our nowson/daughter, being taken from their bio-parents, and creating a ‘hell’ for them, as they were placed in 17 different homes before us. To put it simply, this song is the broad picture of the meaning of the record.”

“On February 3, 2021, my wife, Crystal, went to the emergency room. She had barely eaten in a week, and was beginning to lose movement, as well as speech. The doctors found four clots in major arteries, in her brain. 98 per cent blockages in some. They told me they may have to perform emergency brain surgery, but were doing everything they could to stabilise her, since the procedure is extremely dangerous. This song takes the listener through the night I almost lost my wife to a stroke, and me contemplating a life without her. Something she still is battling through every day – she is about to have her third brain surgery.”

“I grew up in a conservative Christian household, and fortunately, had a very trauma-free upbringing. I thought I had everything figured out when it came to stress/anxiety, because I had been able to handle everything life had thrown at me, and ‘with the help of God’ could get through anything. That’s what I thought at least. When real life finally hit me in 2020, between bringing in our niece/nephew, my wife almost dying, and losing my job to the pandemic, I absolutely fell apart. I didn’t put time and effort into my mental health, because I always figured God would have my back, but you can’t be complacent, and expect others, even God, to pick up the mess. I suffered panic attacks, wasn't eating, and even developed extreme hypochondria, which I’m still working through today.”

“This song is kind of a continuation of Falling Through The Sky. It discusses how I was keeping it together on the outside, until I finally succumbed to my first-ever panic attack. I really want people to hear this song and understand that you need to speak to someone when you’re going through things, because bottling it up truly leads to bad things.”

“Reaper is a love letter to one of my favourite shows of all time, Dark. The show deals with the idea of time being ‘God’ and something that is inevitable, and unchangeable. The events with my wife really made this show hit differently, since death was constantly on my mind since that night.”

“Politics have become a bloodsport, with people believing that each side is evil, and constantly fighting. Meanwhile, the establishment rakes in money and manipulates us for gain, while we stay divided. This is song is about if we settled our differences, we could elect people of integrity, and not the ones who only care about themselves.”

“In 2010, I had suffered from sleep paralysis, and saw a demonic like figure. It’s something that has always stuck with me. In that time, I was a selfish person, and was writing lyrics that didn’t back up my actions. Sometimes I feel like that moment was used to ‘wake me up’.”

“Our son and daughter have a lot of trauma from the hurt they experienced, being abused by their parents. The bond they have with their parents, even after all that has happened to them, is causing them constant pain, but the realisation that they can move on, and accept their new life, has greatly helped. This song is the message they want to send to their birth parents.”

“This song was written by our singer/bassist Tuck, so I’ll give you a little quote from him on it: ‘Before going into the studio we knew we wanted to write an album centered around Kirby. He had experienced some unique trials and tribulations that the rest of us simply didn’t. One of those was adopting his niece and nephew. I wrote the chorus as a tribute to the kids. Something just trying to say that we see them and want them to win. I can’t place myself in their pain but we can listen.’”

“This song from two perspectives – one being my wife and I’s, and the other being from our kids. It’s a song speaking to their biological parents, about how hard it is for them to move on, and the hurt/trauma they have caused them. How pride is keeping them from being a part of their life, not owning up to the mistakes, and the pain they have caused.”

The Hell We Create is due out on October 28 via Solid State Records

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