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Closure: Will Attila ever mature?

American metalcore band Attila has been around for over a decade and a half at this point – much longer than anyone expected them to be, or most likely wanted them to be. A ‘comedy’ band rather famous on the internet for… well… being a bit cringy and overall not great. It has at least kept them relevant for all these years. Their ninth studio album, ‘Closure’, was released last week and, while I am not particularly a fan of the band from what I have heard, we needed something for New Music Mondays so let’s hope this album changes my mind.

Attila’s Offical Facebook

Opening track ‘Anxiety’ opens just as heavy as I was expecting; some harsh growls from Fronz over the top of some ridiculously down-tuned guitar and bass. It heads into a slow riff(?) before quickly speeding up into more of a thrash feel. The guitars and drums here are fantastic, but the vocals are not for me at all. They’re either too high screams or massively low growls, neither of which I can really get on board with as even as a seasoned metalhead I struggle to work out what is being said. The chorus is pretty catchy though with the chanting backing vocals that would be fun live. The second verse at times channelled the band’s inner Korn which sounds awesome and I wish they’d have stuck to that throughout, to be honest. The rest of the song was pretty average, including a boring breakdown but after Googling the lyrics I was happy to find that they were actually pretty serious. Yes, they weren’t the most cleverly written I’ve ever heard/read, but they were at least covering a topic that is a serious issue in today’s society. Not for me, but not bad.

‘Empty Clip’ opens on a pretty sick riff, simple yet effective. The scratching behind it was even a nice touch, giving off great early Slipknot vibes. Heck, even the vocals were damn good when they first came in: low and groaning, again sounding reminiscent of Johnathan Davis. It builds into a heavier screamed vocal but it honestly also sounds great, building more and more into a catchy, clean vocals chorus. The rest of the song is more of the same but I have to admit that outside of the fairly juvenile lyrics, this was actually a pretty good song. It even made the playlist, something I never thought I’d say in this review!

One of the four pre-released songs from the album, ‘Metalcore Manson’, is a lot more what I expected of the band. It’s another pretty good guitar riff and the Cane Hill style weird notes over the top were a nice touch but I just can’t get around the CRINGY lyrics. I know that’s probably the point, and I don’t think it helped that I’ve also seen the video of this song, but the low rapping about how rich he is and how many women he gets almost made me turn the album off and stop the review right there and then. Heck, the chorus is even cringier and not that catchy at all, never mind the moral ambiguity of the subject matter. Outside of the opening riff, there is nothing I can praise about this song; I was seriously close to giving up. Unfortunately, I’m going to persevere in the hope that there are more songs like the previous one hidden among the flexing.

It was a bad idea.

The rest of the album had NOTHING on those first two songs, sadly. Aside from the final song, they were all full of flexing and posing; Fronz trying his best to keep up his ‘bad-boy’ persona and it just came across as some of the most cringe-worthy stuff I have ever listened to. This kind of content kind of worked for some of the 90’s and 2000’s rappers because it was at least believable and not quite as aggressive and on-the-nose, but here with a guy trying to rap the same thing over metal it just didn’t work at all. It didn’t even really come across as comedy either, it felt like it was being taken too seriously for that. It’s a shame too, as the instrumentation behind them for the most part was fantastic. Check out ‘Day Drinking’ below; it could have easily been my favourite song on the album with the great riff and solos if the lyrics weren’t so angsty and teenage. I think I got my hopes up for some decent music by the band too soon.

Overall: Yeah, I didn’t like this so much. As I said in the previous paragraph, it’s a shame too because musically they are a damn good band and for the most part Fronz’s voice isn’t terrible – when he’s trying to emulate guys like Marylin Manson and Johnathan Davis. But I just cannot get past the ridiculous subject matter and that alone made it a bad album for me. I know the band has their fans and if you like this sort of stuff that’s awesome, but I do also see why this band gets so much hate.

Score: 2/10

Reviews

Aussie rockers Massive release their latest single: Rise

Aussie rockers Massive release their first track since 2019s ‘Rebuild Destroy’. ‘Rise’ is to be released exclusively for the NWOCR Compilation album out today – something that you will have to keep a close eye on as not only does it feature some of the best new rock music around today, but we may be doing more coverage of it soon! Massive join Thundermother and The New Roses (two more great bands!) as the two only international inclusions on the album.

Massive’s Official Facebook

The bands vocalist, Brad Marr, had this to say about the track:

“Rise is a song full of built up energy. We’re exploding to get back on a stage, turn up our amps and smash this out at full speed. We want nothing more than to drink beers and smash ears.”

The track itself is awesome. Just over three minutes of balls-to-the-wall rock’n’roll, a party feel that only an Australian band can truly provide. The riff is insane, the solos are crazy, Brad’s vocals are powerful and as on point as ever; the chorus is catchy as hell and the backing vocals getting a HUGE feel when they join in with the song’s title.

Check out the video for the track below!

The band are touring the UK in October/November in support of The Quireboys as well as a slew of their own headline shows and even an appearance at the much loved Hard Rock Hell Festival.

Pick up tickets here

Order the full NWOCR compilation album here.

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Call of the Wild: Can the German power metallers POWERWOLF deliver another stellar album yet again?

Powerwolf has been around for a while now, releasing eight studio albums throughout their nearly 20-year career. In that time they have established themselves as one of the powerhouses of the genre and a must-see band live. Their latest album, Call of the Wild, is under our microscope today for New Music Monday. Having not listened to this band too much aside from their bigger songs, I have to say I’m pretty excited as I always need more power metal in my life!

Powerwolf’s Official Facebook

‘Faster Than the Flame’ starts with some epic chanting and strings, immediately setting an awesome tone and feel to it. It then descends into the opening chorus, the vocals sounding powerful and great with some huge guitar chords and drums behind them. A quick verse riff follows afterwards – the drums’ double bass working overtime behind it. It drops down a little, some more chanted vocals in what I assume to be German, before that awesome catchy chorus comes back again. It’s already stuck in my head for the rest of the day and I’ve only heard it twice. We get a short bridge before a pretty great guitar solo, fast and technical for the first half before it slows down a little in the second part to match the rest of the instruments. It drops down again into another bridge with some catchy chants that build perfectly into a final chorus. This was a good song and a great start to an album, making the playlist!

The lead single of the album, ‘Beast of Gevaudan’, is up next. It opens on another build-up of chanting, this time it heads straight into a fantastic guitar and keys riff. The epicness definitely remaining from the previous song. Most of the instruments drop out for the verse, leaving just the powerful vocals and some basic drums. It builds up perfectly into the heaviness of another catchy chorus, though it wasn’t quite as good as the previous one. A lot was going on in it and even though there were more great backing vocals and harmonies, I think it was just a tad too wordy. We get an awesome breakdown after the second chorus with the strings and chanting coming back, easily signalling the pyro cue for live shows. The bridge between it and the solo sounds like it could have been ripped straight from a Maiden song, but that doesn’t take away its awesomeness. Another great solo leads to a dropped-down chorus, one that builds into a huge, epic final chorus. It was a good song overall, but I preferred the opener a fair bit more.

Another single ‘Dancing With the Dead’, is next. It opens on another epic power metal riff, the drums soon coming in to add the fast driving force behind it. It again drops down for the verse, mainly focusing on the vocals, strings, and keys. It builds well into the huge, heavier chorus – this one being a little simpler and catchier vocally. The second verse and chorus have a little more instrumentation to them, adding some great dynamics to the song. The more I hear the chorus, the more I fall in love with it, and it is going to be another track stuck in my head for days to come. The solo in this song is slower, re-treading the vocal melody for the most part, but it sounds awesome. If anything, it may be better than their crazy fast playing in the last two songs. It then heads into a final double chorus to end another fantastic song and one that rather easily made the playlist.

‘Varcolac’ opens on some more choir-style vocals and I have to admit it’s starting to wear a little thin on me already – not a good sign for a power metal album. Still though, the riff that proceeds it is pretty great. It’s a little steadier than I’m used to from the band so far. The verse maintains the same steady speed and riff, although they mention the song title so much in the lyrics that I was worried I’d gotten it confused and it was the chorus instead. I’m still a tad confused, but I think the higher, double-based parts are considered the choruses of the song. Either way, the chanting of Varcolac is catchier than any other part of the song so it may as well have been the chorus! A riff seems to come out of nowhere for a moment after the second chorus before it is quickly hidden by the vocals and epicness again, which was a little odd. It would have been nice to give the riff a little more time to breathe. We get a high bridge part again before it heads into a verse/chorus part again to finish it off. This was a good song, but man did the structure confuse me a little!

‘Alive or Undead’ starts slower than the others with a beautiful piano melody, but all I could think about was how much the choir at the start sounded like the Halo song. Karsten “Attila Dorn” Brill’s low vocals fit surprisingly well over the top of the piano, somehow adding even more beauty to the track. This song is a slow build; the strings and other accompaniment swells more and more as the vocals do and it takes over a minute and a half for it to finally break and the drums and guitars to come in. They only add to the epicness of it all – this feeling like a fantastic power metal power ballad… there must be an easier way of saying that! It all drops out again for a slow, brief guitar solo that builds up again for a huge final chorus and outro, even managing to squeeze another great guitar solo into it too. This was just the sort of change of pace this album needed after the first few tracks being a little similar and it worked perfectly, I loved it!

‘Blood for Blood’ opens with enough accordion that for a moment I thought I was listening to a Dropkick Murphys song. The heaviness is soon built in around it though as it turns into a power-folk-metal song, somehow. Unfortunately, outside of the interesting new instrumentation, there isn’t too much difference in this track that I haven’t already heard before on the album. Also, unfortunately, it is the same for the following track ‘Glaubenskraft’ and the album’s title track. ‘Call of the Wild’ has a damn catchy chorus, don’t get me wrong, but they are all fairly similar to the opening few tracks – enough for me not to have much to say about them!

The final three songs are again more of the same. I want to stress that it isn’t at all a bad thing; a band is going to have a distinct sound that they stick to, especially in such a niche sub-genre, it just means as a reviewer I have less to gush over. ‘Sermon of Swords’ has an awesome duelling solo and some fun chants, ‘Undress to Confess’ is silly, comedic brilliance that I wasn’t expecting to hear from an otherwise serious-sounding band and ‘Reverent of Rats’ is a pretty strong closer. However, outside of that, I can’t say much that I haven’t already said when talking about other songs. 

Overall: This was a damn enjoyable album packed full of great instrumentation, epic feeling, and some very catchy vocals. It is another review that has immediately made me want to check out more of their stuff, as well as see them live as it is the sort of music that would be even better to see in person with the whole stage show backing it. One of the best new release this year!

Score: 7.5/10

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The Nightmare of Being: Can At The Gates maintain the momentum they’ve had since their reunion a decade ago?

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Let’s get heavy. Swedish death metal is a genre I hear about and has been HEAVILY praised, but for whatever reason I haven’t checked out all that much. Metal isn’t my go-to genre, although I love the likes of Lamb of God, Machine Head, and Gojira, so really I have no excuse. The seventh album from At the Gates, having broken up in the late 90s for a decade or so, promises blistering riffs, heavy vocals and hopefully a groove or two. I’m pretty excited for this one because I’m listening with virgin ears – let’s get to it. 

At The Gates’ Official Facebook

The album opener, ‘Spectre of Existence’, starts with a fantastic acoustic guitar riff which is then built perfectly with distorted electric guitar and some epic drums. It sounds like a mixture of early Metallica album openers (‘Battery’ being the prime example) and an Opeth song. We continue to be slapped with more insane riffs as it drops back down momentarily only to build into a massive thrash/death/black (it’s fast, okay, they all seem similar) riff. The verse is slower and a tad groovy until Tomas Lindberg’s hardcore style harsh vocals come in, giving the song even more heaviness. It takes a while to get into it but I am a fan. The chorus is still just as heavy as anything else but damn if it isn’t pretty catchy too! A short bridge leads to a pretty decent, technical and sometimes harmonised solo – my favourite thing about the track so far. It then heads into another verse and chorus to close it out. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, I feel I could get into this genre at least a little!

Another pre-release song, ‘The Paradox’, is up next. It teases another soft start with slow piano notes before the drums rip the band into a crazy fast riff that denies any thoughts of softness. It definitely channels a similar energy as the previous song, something that I feel I’ll be saying a lot in this review. The chorus is more enjoyable this time though, actually getting stuck in my head a little! Between that, the subtle acoustic guitar that adds so much to the dynamics of the sound, and another awesome guitar solo, this makes the playlist for me!

The album’s title track, ‘The Nightmare of Being’, starts off slow with a cleaner guitar riff that sounds reminiscent of Slayer’s ‘Seasons in the Abyss’. The vocals kick in and the lower, spoken vocals remind me more of Parkway Drive’s later stuff – although I know that they probably got the style from this band. It gets a little harsher and heavier at times but it always drops back down to the simpler riff, alternating between harsh and spoken word vocals. It leads to an odd feeling arrangement but keeps things interesting, at least. It builds up after the second chorus into what feels like a heavy drop, but then it heads back to the clean riff for a solo. I like the song, especially the diversity of different vocal styles, but it seems a little too all over the place for me.

‘Garden of Cyrus’ starts with another slow riff; it builds pretty nicely with riff after riff of “death metal goodness” which is now the official term. It took an embarrassingly long time for me to realise this was going to be a mostly instrumental track; it wasn’t until the utterly SWEET horns came in near the middle that I noticed how long into the track I was. Speaking of the horns though, oh my god, why does it fit so well? They’re sexy horns too, like something out of ‘Careless Whisper’ and it is the highlight of the album by far. We get some spoken word after the horns but it isn’t long before they’re back again and sound even better behind some vocals, giving everything a massive, epic feel to it. The vocals get a little heavier and screamy afterwards, but it all stays pretty plodding and not too heavy which was a nice change of pace. It’s my favourite song on the album and again makes the playlist!

We get more non-conventional instrumentation to open ‘Touched by the White Hands of Death’ and, honestly, it is another highlight on the album for me. Orchestral instruments make me weak at the knees and almost every track on this album features a sick instrumental interlude or intro. The rest of this song is the usual death metal schtick but this intro was amazing.

The final single from the album, ‘Fall into Time’, opens on a riff similar to ‘Garden of Cyrus’ and again the epic orchestral instrumentation was back to slow-build this track perfectly. It almost feels like if Lewis Carrol scored for movies – that’s how epic some of this feels. Again, more death metal stuff afterwards but I’d be happy to just listen to the first two minutes on repeat. The drop-down section in the middle was pretty cool too with a lot of focus on the awesome bass riff and drums for a while before a guitar solo comes in over the top. It sounds very Metallica-esque in a good way.

Unfortunately, much of the final four songs are straight-up death metal songs. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but when it was done so well on the opening couple of tracks, it is hard to top. It’s a shame too because there are some good riffs spread between them, I’ve just gotten my fill of the band six songs in for now. The only thing a little different, at least for the first half, is ‘Cosmic Pessimism’. The riff is great and almost feels like something John Frusciante would come up with for a Red Hot Chili Peppers song. The song picks back up halfway through and doesn’t look back, turning into a proper death metal song instead of a quirky little basic song thrown in to shake things up towards the end of the album. The first half of the song is definitely my favourite. 

Overall: This is another album that I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would. I knew I’d love the music and appreciate the vocals, but I was starting to get into it by the end. And, of course, I cannot gush over the orchestral parts enough. This was a damn good album and one that has prompted me to want to look further into the band and genre as a whole

Score: 7/10

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Reviews

Below: Have Beartooth got what it takes to take Hardcore Punk to the mainstream?

Columbus formed hardcore punk/metalcore band Beartooth has achieved a lot in their nine years together. Being a band for less than a decade, they’ve released four studio albums and have toured around the globe, amassing a pretty large, dedicated fanbase. Having said all of that, I haven’t checked them out all that much. I know a couple of their songs that I listen to every so often but generally speaking, their style of music isn’t something I usually explore. For Overtone’s very first New Music Monday, I thought Beartooth would be the ideal artist to kick off with. 

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Beartooth’s Official Facebook

The album’s title track starts out with a whole lot of fuzz and reverb before a steady drumbeat and some hardcore style screamed vocals that lead us into a HEAVY riff. The vocals get cleaner through the verse – Caleb Shomo’s voice being pretty punky and actually preferable to his screams in this writer’s humble opinion. The chorus slows things down with a catchy melody, even if it does come out of nowhere a little. The screamed lines at the end of the chorus are pretty great too and lead perfectly into that awesome guitar riff again. We head into a quick guitar riff coming out of the second chorus, accompanied by more screamed vocals. It builds up pretty perfectly into a sludgy, slower breakdown riff; this is definitely something I’d like to hear live. It’s again accompanied by more harsh vocals which I enjoyed more – maybe I’m starting to warm up to them? A great, heavy song to open an album on.

The lead single ‘Devastation’ opens on another huge scream and keeps the album heavy. The effects overall add a slight Avatar feel to it. The harsh vocals stop again when it comes to the clean, catchy chorus – the pop-punk type vocals giving me an earworm for the rest of the day. We get a great, low drumbeat coming out of the second chorus before a basic, chuggy riff builds it all back up again into a MASSIVE breakdown. Everything from the screamed callout of the song title to the slow-ish, basic but heavy guitar riff ties together amazingly well. We get another final chorus before the breakdown comes back around to finish the track. I preferred this one to the previous song and can definitely see why it was chosen as a single.

‘The Past is Dead’ was another pre-release track from the album and is the lightest so far. Opening on a catchy vocal hook/chant is always going to win over the hardcore-punk crowds. The lower harmonies over the vocals in the lighter verse are a nice touch and lead into a fantastic chorus, reminding me of A Day To Remember – it’s the most “arena-filling”, catchy chorus for sure. In comparison to other breakdowns on the album, this track’s breakdown is pretty tame and feels more like a filler-bridge. A stripped-back chorus leads to a final chorus to end the song. This was a simple yet pretty great song and another good choice for a single. This one easily made the playlist!

‘Fed Up’ opens on some more cringy, adolescent-style lyrics, again channelling their inner ADTR. At least it builds in to a pretty good, fast, hardcore punk riff that drops in and out for every vocal line – like a call and response between vocals and instruments to add an extra layer of dynamics. It’s another pretty basic song, building to a big, open pop-punk chorus. The only thing that separates it from the likes of Sum 41 is the heavier, de-tuned guitar riff at various intervals throughout. Oh and the usual breakdown, but again this one was nothing compared to the first two tracks – even if it was a pretty good riff. A final chorus and heavier breakdown (again) finishes this one off and, in comparison to the previous tracks on the album so far, this felt like the weakest.

‘Dominate’ keeps the vibe of the album going with screamed vocals and a crazy low guitar riff; it could be classed as a thrash riff in terms of the intensity and speed. The chorus is slower and features some generally cleaner vocals, although the screams are still present. There’s a crazy blast beat between the chorus and the second verse too; it blows my mind that drummers can play that fast. Another fantastic breakdown callout scream leads to an interesting breakdown, the riff being unconventional but pretty damn enjoyable. If anything, the breakdown doesn’t last long enough and quickly heads back into a final chorus before the blast beat and heavy outro finishes things off. This was by far the best of the heavier songs so far and easily makes the playlist.

‘No Return’ keeps things heavy for a moment with another awesome opening riff but outside of that, it’s another clean vocalled, slower radio-friendlier track. It’s not bad at all but there are better versions of this type of song, some of which are on this album. Again, the lyrics get a little cringy for me at times, too. ‘Phantom Pain’ gives off some more hardcore feeling through the verses, but again has a massively pop-punk chorus – a format that (again) has been done better on the opening two tracks of the album. Both songs are good, but just a little generic at this point. Either that or I’m starting to get sick of the album. ‘Skin’ is the closest thing to a ballad on the album but it is also their most ADTR-y song. Apart from a decent chorus, I have very little interest in this track.

‘Hell of It’ is the last of the pre-released songs and brings the heaviness of the album back with a vengeance by opening on a great guitar riff and some awesome harsh vocals. It leads into a pretty decent, quick riff and the harsh vocals stick around almost throughout this time. The chorus is pretty damn catchy and may be my favourite on the album, perhaps my favourite Beartooth track of all time. The breakdown’s mega-low guitar riff sounds a tad evil – much more to my liking. Playlisted!

Unfortunately, the final few tracks go back to being A Day to Remember-like. On paper or as an isolated listen, I like the songs ‘I Won’t Give Up’ and ‘The Answer’ but both remind me of slightly heavier ‘radio rock’ that has been done countless times before. Meanwhile, ‘The Last Riff’ is just a nearly five minute instrumental track revolving mainly around one guitar riff. It’s a good, heavy, almost epic riff, but a pretty boring and uneventful way to finish an album.

Overall: I enjoyed this more than I expected to. Would it make my album of the year consideration? Hell no. But it has made me more of a fan of the band, so that’s a good thing at least. There were some damn good songs scattered through here, but also a fair few just plane average ones. Still, I’ll probably be going back and checking out their older stuff as a result, so I guess overall it’s a pretty positive result and a pretty decent album.

Score: 6/10

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Unstable: Tetrarch’s journey to bring nu-metal back to the mainstream

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Atlantan metallers Tetrarch return with their first new album in 4 years, ‘Unstable’, now boasting a shiny Napalm Records stamp on it too. Fitting nicely into, and pretty much spearheading, the Nu-Metal revival of recent years, the band has blown up recently after their debut album ‘Freak’ back in 2017. The hype for the follow-up, ‘Unstable’, has been massive and I for one have been onboard. I loved the first album and love nu-metal in general, so I’m excited to get onto this and review it. I’ve also somehow only heard one of the singles off it so far, so it will be nice to get mostly a brand-new listen. Join me in checking it out!

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Tetrarch’s Official Facebook

The album’s lead single, ‘I’m Not Right’ starts the album off strong and with a very nu-metal sound. Fading in with some distorted, distant vocals and guitars, the vocals sounding like Johnathon Davis and the lyrics being suitably edgy. It soon explodes into a huge, heavy riff, a sign of great things to come, I’m sure. The guitars, coupled with the electronic sounds behind them, reminds me a lot of Static X’s old material. The similarities continue with Static X as Josh Fore’s vocals give off a lot of Wayne vibes. It all builds up nicely into a heavy, but also very catchy chorus – the vocals being just about clean enough for the crowd to sing along to live. The second verse has an incredible couple of lines where the vocals go full-on screaming and it sounds HEAVY, but unfortunately it doesn’t last all that long. I still cannot get over just how good the chorus is as the whole song sounds like the perfect blend of Static’s heaviness and Korn’s catchiness. We get a build-up after the chorus into a massive breakdown thanks to the harsh vocals working so well over the top. It then builds up into a huge final chorus and it’s taken me this long to realise the vocals here also sound a little like Chester Bennington’s. A massive, heavy outro takes us out in style and I could spend all day talking about this track. It easily makes the playlist!

Next up is another single, ‘Negative Noise’ which I’ve heard before. We get some brief feedback before the song builds up into a great riff. Look, I’m not going to lie, I definitely see the similarities between the verse’s riff and melody and Slipknot’s ‘Heretic Anthem’ like everyone online is pointing out but it still sounds killer so I’ll happily lay off them for it after pointing it out. It stays just as heavy and blisteringly quick throughout the verse. It almost feels like a thrash song. The vocals clear up a little in the chorus but the tempo remains about the same throughout. As a result, while it is still a good chorus, it isn’t quite as catchy as the previous song. We get a similar bridge out of the second chorus before we even get a great little guitar solo which is something all too rare in nu-metal. However, as good as Diamond does here, it’s just a tad too short for my liking. It again hits us with another final chorus and a quicker outro to finish things off. I am on the fence as to whether to put it into the playlist or not. It’s a damn good song but the similarity to Slipknot does make me feel like I’ve heard it all before. Check out the Overtone Spotify playlist to see if I changed my mind by the end of this review.

The album’s title track is next. It opens pretty heavy again but it’s slower than the previous song, retaining a lot more of the early nu-metal sound. I initially got heavily reminded of ‘Trash’ by Korn when first listening, but after listening to it I now have no idea why – they’re pretty different sonically. Despite that, for some reason I still can’t shake the comparison. The harsh vocals in the pre-section are pretty great and the chorus gives off more early Linkin Park vibes again. However, as much as I like the chorus, for some reason the final lines don’t sit right with me. They feel a little too basic and juvenile. I mean, that is pretty much the point of nu-metal at this point: angsty, borderline cringy lyrics, but this felt just a tad over the edge. Still, it builds up to a massive, heavy breakdown which is one of the highlights of the album for me so far. It’s another great song, but I can see why this wasn’t selected to be a single.

Another single on the album is ‘You Never Listen’. It opens on a stripped-back version of the chorus which is again hugely catchy and gives off lots of LP vibes. It then explodes into a pretty heavy but still slower riff, making it clear why this was single-worthy. Even the verses are pretty simple and slower and  the vocal melodies give off slight Shinedown vibes. There isn’t much to talk about with this song. It’s the most radio-friendly song on the album so far and I am all for it. It’s the closest thing to a nu-metal ballad I think we’re going to get, even with the Static X-style heavier section in the middle, and I’m going to have that chorus stuck in my head for the rest of the day now! Playlisted!

‘Sick of You’ opens on another heavy industrial metal riff – one that carries on in one form or another through the verses too. The chorus is pretty great and the lyrics are some of the best I have heard from this album so far; they’re catchy and easy to sing along to. There isn’t much more I can say about this song; it’s pretty basic again, but we get another fantastic solo from Diamond Rowe which is even better than the previous one. She wouldn’t at all sound out of place on a thrash album. Another good song overall, but the solo was definitely the highlight for me.

‘Take A Look Inside’ blew all of my expectations out of the water. It is easily the heaviest song on the album by a large margin and it’s insane. From the fast riff and sick double bass pedal work of the intro to the slow, sludgy, crushing breakdown after the second chorus, this was definitely on the heavy top end of the genre. The track still manages to squeeze in a slower, clean-vocalled, very catchy chorus in there too. This may be my favourite song on the album, maybe even my favourite song by the band as a whole, and it has definitely made the Overtone playlist! Check this out if you are in any way into heavy music.

‘Stitch Me Up’ again channels their heavy Korn influences but it doesn’t stand out all that much on this album. It’s good but it feels like the most “fillery” song on the album so far. The style is similar to other tracks on the album, but it doesn’t quite reach that level. It is, unfortunately, the same sort of criticism I can give to the album’s final single, ‘Addicted’, and the following song of the album, ‘Pushed Down’. They’re all good songs but they’re nothing different to other tracks on the album at this point. Nu/industrial metal is so hard to vary drastically between tracks – so much so that I’ll be the first to admit I’ll skip the occasional track on a generic nu-metal album. It can fall into the trap of producing the same sound which, for some, won’t be an issue, but it makes the album more difficult to review. 

The final song on the album, ‘Trust Me’, mixes things up a little. It’s the slowest and calmest song on the album. The verses are mainly just drums and vocals with quieter guitar notes ringing out in the back. The only time it gets even remotely heavy is in the chorus and even then it’s just big, distorted chords to give the song some depth. I have to admit though, I loved this. It’s an interesting choice for a closer I’ll admit, but it’s something completely different to the album both in sound and feel. It’s slow, moody and subdued, and never quite hits that huge gear I kept expecting it to – it never dropped. Another highlight of the album, even if it doesn’t quite make the playlist cut.

Overall: I loved this. Being a big fan of nu-metal (heck, I grew up and got into music in the back half of it) this is the type of music I’ve been waiting to make a comeback for a good decade now and I’m so glad these guys are at the forefront. They have gone from strength to strength as a band and I can honestly say that I believe this is better than their first album – which is saying a lot. With all the press coverage they are currently receiving, it wouldn’t be suprised if they were the next breakout megastars.

Score: 8/10

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Interviews & Features

Baby Strange: Loud and Direct indie rock music from Glasgow!

Baby Strange are a Scottish indie rock band from the wonderful city of Glasgow. The band have been going strong for nearly ten years and have gained quite the following in the UK due to their mashup of influences – be it rock, punk or even hip-hop. Frontman Johnny Madden describes their sound as ‘high energy, loud and direct.’ The three band members met at a community centre when they were kids, partaking in a seminar that encouraged children to get into music. It later inspired them to form the band Baby Strange. We got the chance to speak to them a little about their music, the industry today for a grassroots band and their plans for the future. 

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Baby Strange’s Official Facebook

So, firstly, we had to ask the same question as we ask everyone we interview here at Overtone: What is the one song that Johnny Madden wished he had written?

“Teenage Kicks by The Undertones! Surely that’s everyone’s answer?”

Obviously the last year or so has been very hard on the music industry  with the seemingly endless stream of lockdowns. Baby Strange used the unusual time to produce their latest release.

“It was really weird at first. We’re used to making music together week in and week out so not being able to do that for a while was a strange feeling. We did write the majority of our new EP over lockdown though and we’re really happy with the way it’s turned out.

“There’s a lot of things [we miss] but one that comes to mind is walking out to a packed room and diving into the first song of the set and seeing the place go nuts. It’s a feeling I’ll never get tired of.”

Speaking more widely about the music industry, Johnny listed his most liked and disliked parts:

“We’ve never really seen ourselves as part of the industry to be honest. We just do our own thing, but the best thing about being in a band is getting to play in front of people every night on tour. We love being in the studio recording too, it gives us a real buzz.

“I wish bands and artists were given more time to grow and develop. It’s mostly a major label thing; you get signed, put out a few singles and if it’s not clicking straight away, you’re dropped. I’ve seen it happen too many times and I wish it was different.”

The band released their much-anticipated new EP, ‘Land of Nothing’, back in March of this year. Speaking about the experience, Johnny told us:

“It was recorded at Castle Of Doom studios in Glasgow with Chris Marshall. The major difference this time round was the location, we’d never recorded in Castle Of Doom before, it’s amazing.

‘’There’s Something There’ from our new EP is one of my favourites. Lyrically I pushed myself to talk about things I’d always hid from, such as my struggles with mental health in the past. It was quite freeing, putting pen to paper and doing that. Lyrics aside, the music is next level.”

They have an upcoming UK tour towards the end of the year which are the first shows they have been able to play in months. They also revealed to us that they are planning a European tour for the beginning of next year, although they were unable to divulge any specifics. Follow them on Facebook or Instagram to keep up to date with them and be the first to hear about their tour when they announce it!

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Reviews

Scaled and Icy: Can Twenty One Pilots get back to their former glory?

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Alt/indie duo Twenty One Pilots are back this year with their fifth studio album, Scaled and Icy. While their last album (2018’s Trench) was still widely successful, I have to say I didn’t really like it. I think they veered too far away from their slight rock leanings and more into generic pop music. Having heard the singles off of their new album before this review, I have a horrible feeling that I will feel the exact same about this one, too. It’s a shame, as both ‘Vessel’ and ‘Blurryface’ were up there with some of my favourite albums of the 2010s. If I offend anyone with this, I just want to say sorry in advance. Let’s get into it, shall we?

Twenty One Pilots’ Official Facebook

‘Good Day’ opens on some electronic, sci-fi sort of sounds. As they clear up, we get a pretty great piano melody backed by a simple drumbeat. I wasn’t expecting something so upbeat and enjoyable straight out of the gate given the single quality, so I’m already thrown through a loop. It almost gives off some ELO/Madness vibes. Tyler Joseph’s instantly recognisable vocals come in over the top, delivering a surprising amount of range and top end given his usual lower, moody/rap style with a lot of their more recent tracks. It’s giving off more ‘Vessel’ feels and I am fully onboard. The chorus is pretty short and sweet; the dynamics of the song don’t change that much but it’s still catchy. It slows up a bit coming out of the second chorus, the piano and drums becoming even simpler, and the real highlight here are the fantastic vocal harmonies between the two guys. It slowly builds up more and more into a final chorus and outro to finish things off. A simple, strange way to open an album, but a massively enjoyable one. And, while it isn’t really rock music, it makes the playlist anyway! 

Next up is one of the singles, ‘Choker’. It opens on some great drums and electronic sounds, giving off major ‘Blurryface’ vibes. However, my main issue with this song is the same issue I had with the songs on ‘Trench’: it doesn’t go anywhere. The not-quite-mumbled vocals stay monotonously the same throughout and the instrumentation barely changes throughout. While the same could be said for the previous song, at least that one was upbeat and enjoyable. I miss when the band would have more dynamics in the song, changing seamlessly between rap to heavier stuff to piano or ukulele stuff. This just sounds lazy, honestly, like a band who have lost their spark after finding fame and no longer want to push boundaries and experiment but rather fit into the same general pop sound that the masses eat up because the radio tells them to. And, to top it all off, the chorus is nowhere near as catchy as 90% of their other stuff. 

The album’s lead single, ‘Shy Away’, opens on more drums and electronic sounds, like the previous song. It’s a little faster in terms of its tempo, which is nice at least. The verse is just fine really, it being a clear ‘we need to have something in this song than just the chorus.’ Speaking of the chorus, I both love it and hate it at the same time. It’s simple, anti-climatic and a little boring… but damn if it isn’t a massive earworm that I’ve had stuck in my head at various points since first hearing it. There isn’t much more to the song – the bridge generally has the same instrumentation as the chorus but with different vocals on top. It features the very bare basics of an American indie song these days. I’m on the fence as to whether I think this is a good song or not. I think, in the most basic way, it is a good song but it just isn’t a good Twenty One Pilots song. It lacks the spark that the band had in their early few albums and because of that I find myself not liking it as much. 

‘The Outside’ opens on a great electric/synth melody with the drums adding fantastically to the overall rhythm when they come in over the top. The verse again is simply meh, but the highlight here is the chorus – catchy vocals made even catchier by more fantastic harmonies and backing vocals. Heck, it even begins to get a little heavy towards the end of it before dropping back down to the verse again. The track has a pretty heavy 80s synth-pop vibe to it (Depeche Mode and stuff like that) which I dig. We head into some rap after the second verse which is something Tyler always does so well. And, if anything, the part is far too short. I want more quick, great lyricism. I wasn’t quite that fussed about the outro part after the last verse, but the song up until that point was excellent; my favourite TOP song since ‘Blurryface’. 

The final and most recent single from the album, ‘Saturday’, is up next. It opens on another annoyingly catchy chorus as I really don’t like it that much (maybe even less than ‘Shy Away’s). This song is similar to ‘Shy Away’ in a lot of ways actually, in that the dynamics aren’t really there and there is very little difference between the verses and choruses aside from different vocals. It’s so basic that I might as well be listening to The Weeknd. Again, have little to nothing to say about this song aside from it being my least favourite on the album so far. 

Outside of the slightly faster tempo and marginally more enjoyable chorus, if I didn’t know ‘Never Take It’ was a different song I may have assumed it was part of ‘Saturday’ still. That’s how samey and generic this band have become over the last couple of albums. It does have a (and I say this loosely) kind of guitar solo in it which is different I guess. 

I have similar sentiments towards the next few tracks, ‘Mulberry Street’, ‘Formidable’ and ‘Bounce Man’. They all suffer from the same issue as ‘Never Take It’ – both of them could quite easily blend into the same song. They are all perfectly fine slow indie songs, but there is absolutely nothing special about them. For a band that produced such interesting, genuinely awesomely written songs like ‘Semi-Automatic’, ‘Stressed Out’ and ‘Heathens’, it is such a disappointment to hear them lose that fire and edge and make generic pop music like this. It almost feels like they’ve suffered from the same issue that Eminem had after his rehab stint, he was happy and just made general pop music for the most part afterwards. This could be anyone making this album, whereas it took something special to make ‘Vessel’ and ‘Blurryface’. 

‘No Chances’ at least has a different feel to it, leaning a lot heavier on the duo’s hip-hop influences; Tyler’s rapping, slightly lower instrumentation and backing vocals gives me old-school Eminem vibes at times. It’s a much-appreciated change of pace after four or five songs that sounded very similar. The chorus, while catchy, is disappointingly slow and ballad-y given the feel of the rest of the song, but I’m willing to let it go given that the song overall is pretty good. This is honestly my favourite song on the album by quite a margin. It’s the closest thing to their older tracks and I believe it would have made a much better single than any of the other songs they released. It did enough for me to make it onto the playlist!

The final song on the album, ‘Redecorate’, unfortunately drops the quality of the album down again. It’s a slow, boring pop song which feels a little disappointing after how good the previous song was. At least there was some half decent rapping in here. 

Overall: I came into this review with pretty low expectations and I guess at least I wasn’t disappointed. I have to admit I found myself liking more of the songs from this album than the previous so at least it’s an improvement. Three or four good songs doesn’t make it a great album especially when the other tracks all sound eerily similar and kind of boring. I feel like after a few more listens, I may enjoy a couple of them more. However, I still cannot shake the disappointment that a previously great band has been reduced to this. It’s a shame, but I guess there will still be plenty of other people out there that’ll love this album.

Score: 3/10

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Reviews

Van Weezer: Have the pop punk legends still got it 15 albums in?

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Van Weezer has been a long time coming. Teased all the way back in 2019 with the first single, ‘The End of the Game’, the pandemic put a halt on things for a good while. However, the band stayed active throughout by releasing a further three singles in 2020 (one of which featured in the latest Bill and Ted movie) in order to keep up the hype for their fifteenth studio album. I have been a fan of Weezer for pretty much my whole life. Having grown up with them, despite not keeping up with their latest works, I still play their first few albums a lot today. Having said that, I’ve already listened to and fallen in love with the opening track. So let’s get on with the review, shall we?

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Weezer’s Official Facebook

As I said previously, I adore the opening track ‘Hero’. Everything about it screams great radio-rock single. From the verse’s vocals between the guitar chords to the rather simple and pretty relevant lyrics of one of the best choruses I’ve heard in years. I’m honestly trying hard not to say too much about it because I will just gush about it for a while. So, instead of doing my usual play by play on it, I’ll just say that no matter what music you like you should check this out. You won’t regret it. Heck, I would even put this up there with some of their early hits.

‘All the Good Ones’ opens on an almost indie rock guitar riff, but the sliding out of it is massively Weezer of them. The stripped back verse sounds great, starting with some simple bass and drums behind the vocals before the guitar is brought in over the top. It builds into a pretty simple but huge-sounding chorus – the vocal hook being so catchy and effective. The harmonies and backing vocals in the later choruses are great, too. There isn’t a great deal to this song. It’s effectively built around the fantastic chorus but it is a good, slower album track.

Next we have the album’s lead single that was originally released all the way back in 2019 – ‘The End of the Game’. It opens on some great guitar tapping that not only fits the album name perfectly but also reminds me that Weezer are all amazing at their chosen instruments – not just some songwriters who know some chords. The Van Halen inspiration continues into a riff that sounds a fair bit like Panama and has some great harmonics thrown in for good measure. The verse is pretty steady and simple again, being pretty similar to the previous song. The chorus is good but I would say it’s the weakest of the three so far. It would still be amazing to see it live, though! We get a brief, indie-style riff, but some more awesome guitar work in the background. Then a final chorus finishes things off. Whilst it is the lead single, I found myself enjoying this one the least out of the songs so far.

‘I Need Some of That’ is the most recent single from the album. It opens on a fun drum roll before heading into a pretty light-hearted riff – their signature high guitar leads shining through perfectly. They launch into another slower, stripped back verse but the chorus that follows is great. It features some extremely catchy vocals and even some catchy backing vocals and harmonies. Speaking of the lyrics, I can’t help but appreciate. Anyone who has been in a band before can relate deeply. Heck, it feels almost like an anthem for folk like us. We are even treated to a brief and simple (yet effective) guitar solo between the last choruses. We then get the 90s/early 2000s trope of leaving studio sound clips at the end of the song for a good 20 seconds. This is something I never particularly got or understood, however if there are people out there that enjoy them and don’t immediately skip them then great! Another awesome song and maybe my favourite outside of ‘Hero’ so far.

Now we reach a song that I should have heard by now as it was part of the soundtrack to Bill and Ted Face the Music. I am somehow yet to see that movie and that makes me sad. It opens on some ambient build-up before immediately dropping down into Rivers Cuomo’s vocals and clean guitar chords. It’s an odd transition but it sounds great. This one builds up a little slower than the previous songs. The distorted guitars come in for a second verse before we reach a chorus. In fact, the more I listen to this song, I cannot seem to find much of a chorus in it at all. There is a kick-ass guitar solo or two in it though, one that Bill and Ted would be proud of. I finally managed to find the chorus at the end of the song; it was simply just not all that catchy and there wasn’t a lot of difference between the chorus and the distorted verse so I lost track at first. It was still a good song and the first time since their debut I think I’ve found myself enjoying the instrumentation over the vocals.

‘Blue Dream’ blew my mind right from the get go due to the vast majority of the instrumentation being a blatant copy/homage to Ozzy’s brilliant ‘Crazy Train’. However, they do put some strange effect on the guitar during the first riff which makes the whole track sound a little like an early 2000s club song – definitely an odd change of pace. After that though, the song stays at a high quality. They have some fun with the iconic riffs and even squeeze in another pretty great guitar solo and some interesting half timed drums. While not as good as the actual ‘Crazy Train’, and not the best song on the album by a stretch due to a fairly weak chorus, it was still a fun, entertaining song that did something not a lot of artists do.

‘1 More Hit’ starts off with a surprisingly heavy, essentially a metal, riff. However, Rivers’ vocals come in and somehow immediately make it sound lighter. It builds into a pretty great chorus too – catchy and pretty comical lyrically. We then get an even HEAVIER riff coming out of the second chorus. Weezer gives us a breakdown which is in equal parts surprising and fantastic. It if anything just makes me want more metal from the band! We also get another 80s staple, a key change higher for the final chorus, channelling their inner Bon Jovi. I loved this and not just because I’m a huge metalhead, I promise! Another amazing Weezer song and one that has made the playlist!

‘Sheila Can Do It’ and ‘She Needs Me’ feel like the inevitable dip in quality that 95% of albums suffer from towards the end of the album. They’re not bad songs at all, but they feel a little more like filler songs than an album priority. The former gives off slight ‘Buddy Holly’ vibes, but unfortunately it isn’t quite up to the same quality. At least we got another fairly good guitar solo in the latter song, though!

The final track ‘Precious Metal Girl’ features my least favourite modern rock trope: ending on the slow song. It always makes it feel like such a damp, lacklustre ending and I don’t understand why so many bands don’t go out with a bang any more. However, outside of my personal preferences on how an album should be arranged, this is another amazing song. It’s simple – just Rivers’ vocals and an acoustic guitar, but it is very effective. The lyrics are a highlight for me too. They’re my favourite on the album by a fair margin. If this song wasn’t featured at the end of the album, I might have been even better. However, it is still one of the best songs on the album.

Overall: I enjoyed this WAY more than I was expecting to. As I said, I am a big fan of the band but I haven’t checked out a whole bunch of their latest stuff over the last ten years or so. There was nothing bad here; a couple of the songs weren’t up to the same quality as the rest, but there were also some that stood out. If they hadn’t released ‘Hero’ last year as a single, it may have been my favourite song of the year so far. The likes of ‘I need Some of That’ and ‘1 More Hit’ are some of the best songs I’ve heard from Weezer since the very early 2000s. Overall, a very enjoyable album.

Score: 7.5/10

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