The Sheffield 'metalcore' band have gained mainstream
popularity after the success of their fourth effort Sempiternal, which was one
of the standout albums of 2013 for its creative mix of complexity and
atmospheric sounds, with their tongue in cheek style still intact. They've been
dominating all over the world, from touring the US to completely destroying
Reading and Leeds Festival. And after hearing this album, just like its album
artwork, its bleak and empty, and they're not the cheeky lads I have admired
from their past discography anymore.
What's still visible within this new record is Sykes' cliche
lyrics or teenage poetry that this generation seem to loves, and the graphic
gory one liners like 'What You Need's "You make me want to slit my wrists
and play with my own blood". But now that Sykes uses less screams, we get
to fully understand his cringey play-on lyrics like "True friends stab you
in the front" in the Skillet-styled orchestral 'True Friends'. I will give
credit to Sykes' vocals that broadly ranges between the tracks. The first track
'Doomed' really shows his graspy yells and catchy falsettos. But boy was it a mess
putting The 1975 and The Neighbourhood-like sounds and the synths-produced that sounded like Nine Inch Nails together, it was too difficult to
ignore. While his screams felt out of place in this dark and poppy track.
However, tracks like 'Throne' had that punching synths that
'Can You Feel My Heart?' had which makes a lasting impression. 'Avalanche' had
that 'Crooked Young' vibe with its intro and it felt like the only true Bring
Me The Horizon track with its own alternative rock spin to it. The album's main
single 'Drown' is what shines here unfortunately, its layered vocals and choir like sounds is what stands out. The production in most tracks
are even more polished than Sempiternal despite the 'heavy' singles 'Happy
Song' and 'True Friends' have this distorted sound on the guitars that seemed
lazy. Although the rawness of it had that early Deftones sound which I liked.
The main disappointing aspect of this album is the fact that
it lacked its aggressiveness and angst that made them popular in the first
place. The unusual 'Follow You' had RnB beats and it would've been difficult to
admire if it weren't for its quite addictive chorus and Sykes' "I will
follow you.." falsettos. 'What You Need' had upbeat drums and aggressive
yells at its chorus but there was really nothing special about it. Even its
guitar solo was bland which was a disappointing effort from guitarist Lee Malia. 'Run' sounded like a rip-off of early-Young Guns but more minimalistic. The punchy 'Blasphemy' had a familiar riff that is just overplayed, added with another bland
guitar solo. The ending track 'Oh No' felt like a slow dance track that sounds
like PVRIS, and had a weird saxophone thrown in there because, why not?
It seemed that Sykes' transition from the angry, addictive
person that he was before to the happier, cleaner person which he is now
married, have completely changed their sound. But now they're reeled into this
phase where bands struggle to create something more innovative within their
sound while they're at their peak, I'm looking at you Linkin Park. There was
just no complexity within the songwriting process, so mainstream audience can
feel comfortable listening to this album, I mean Sykes' vocals stands out more
than Lee Malia's soulless guitar. Which is why I find the infectious
radio-friendly choruses within every track felt like a betrayal for the
metalcore fans for keeping them around. Now they're ended up chanting
S-P-I-R-I-T like little children.
Overall: It's filled with catchy choruses and Sykes'
singing vocals are better than ever but most tracks felt empty and eliminates
its aggressive complexity. Its lazy and cringey lyrics are becoming more
unbearable sometimes. There's nothing revolutionary here but maybe after a few
listens, you won't stop listening to it.
Listen to: Drown, Throne, Avalanche
5/10
Album out September 11
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