Tag Archives: new music

Reviews

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

Leave a comment

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

Did you enjoy this review? Check out more of them here.

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. 

May be an image of 5 people
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

Enjoyed the review? Follow our Instagram here to keep up to date with all of our content!

Reviews

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

Leave a comment

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!

May be an image of 5 people and people standing
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

Did you like our review? Check out more of them here.

Reviews

Heist 2-11: A budding masked metal band making waves in the UK!

Taking visual inspiration from Mushroomhead, Heist 2-11 is definitely one of the most interesting modern UK bands from an ascetic standpoint. However, instead of the industrial music and multiple vocalists, Heist takes a more modern metal approach to their sound with heavy guitar riffs, singular clean(ish) vocals, and huge, club-filing choruses. Having only been together for a few years, their sound is refined and awesome. So far, the band has released three singles under their name and I took some time to check them out!

Heist 2-11’s Official Facebook

Their debut single from 2019, ‘Fight’, opens on one hell of a drum roll before a quick grunt/scream leads into a heavy, almost thrash guitar riff. The tempo does let up and results in the drums working overtime to give us a fantastic, fast beat. The vocals come in, mostly sounding clean but with a slight harshness to them – almost akin to some of Robb Flynn’s latest work. Speaking of the vocals, they are catchy even during the verses and have a fantastic level of power to them. The catchy, slightly slower building section leads into a great chorus. Gang vocals always sound fantastic in metal songs, especially when they are used in a chorus, and add to the catchiness – giving a live crowd something to sing to and interact with. It drops down after the second chorus with the focus on the low vocals, a single guitar riff and the heavy-sounding low toms from the guitars. It slowly builds up, giving off even more Machine Head vibes as the drums sound a lot like the start of ‘Imperium’. We head into a great little breakdown with some screams over the top. If anything, the screams could have been focused on more as they were short and over way too soon, but the following half of the breakdown was still enjoyable. We head into a great final chorus to finish things off. I have to admit I didn’t like the weird high note in the middle, especially when they put the mic cutting out effect over the top of it, but it’s a minor complaint about an otherwise great song.

‘I Am Alive’ bursts straight into a great, heavy modern metal riff. It drops down into a nu-metal/post-grunge-feeling verse, building up into a harder one midway through. I love the guitar tone these guys are using and it works so well with the semi-clean vocals over the top. Unfortunately, I didn’t think the chorus for this one wasn’t as strong as the first one. It was still alright, but it wasn’t as catchy even with the gang backing vocals. The highlight of this song for me has to be the bridge/breakdown section after the second chorus. The riff, whether it’s the heavy open chord version or the more reserved parts, the riff is badass and the screamed vocals over the top added to the heaviness of the track. Plus, we have a great guitar solo in here too which is pretty technical and interesting to add over the top of some surprisingly slow rhythm work. We get another final chorus before a pretty heavy version of the bridge takes us home. Not quite as good as the first track but it was definitely still an enjoyable song.

The most recent one, ‘Save Me’, is up next. Starting on a sick little bass riff and a bass drum, the guitar soon comes in to add some depth and heaviness to it. It’s a stomping, heavy start, and it doesn’t let up once throughout the track. The double bass in the second half of the verse makes it somehow even heavier, as do the vocals, and pick up in intensity. The choruses are easily the catchiest of the three songs – it has even more of a post-grunge feel to it because of the call and response vocals featuring easy-to-sing-along-to-live lyrics and melody. We then get another fantastic solo which is even better than the previous one in my opinion. It fits perfectly over the top of the rhythm work. It continues a little into the breakdown riff and reminds me big time of Avenged Sevenfold, which is never a bad thing! The breakdown doesn’t last long enough but we also get a build-up riff coming out of it, heading into a fantastic bridge. The lyrics over this part are awesome, too. Again, we get an epic double chorus before a great outro breakdown riff finishes it off. Another fantastic song, and one that made my personal playlist!

Overall: I really enjoyed these songs. These guys are a breath of fresh air in the UK music scene at the minute – one that has struggled for a good 10+ years now at creating some great, straight-up metal bands. There is always some great lighter stuff and some fantastic heavier stuff, but there is never a lot of great old-school metal anymore. Fortunately for us, these guys do it very, very well. I look forward to hearing what they do in the future and hopefully I’ll be able to catch them live somewhere soon!

Score: 7.5/10

Did you enjoy our review? Check out more from our Facebook page here.

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. 

May be an image of 2 people, people sitting and outdoors
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!

Do you follow us on Instagram? Why not? Find us here.

Reviews

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

Leave a comment

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

Do you agree or disagree with our review? Either way, why don’t you head to our Facebook and let us know what you think?

Reviews

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

Leave a comment

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?

May be an image of 4 people, people playing musical instruments, people standing and guitar
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

Liked our review? Keep up to date with all of our content by following us on Instagram.