Dear readers, we ask that you go to the department store, and buy body armor, a helmet, and goggles.
Once you have finished reading this review you will need to wear body armor, put the helmet on your head and goggles on your eyes, and only then will you will be ready to press play.
Not before sitting in a stable chair in front of the speakers or headphones !!
Do not let the album cover fool you, there is nothing sensual or caressing in this album. This is an album of four metal warriors who decided to go wild and are on their way to dismantle your body, the album "Fever" was released on April 26, 2010.
We will not go back to the beginning of the band but just mention that their second album "Scream Aim Fire" which is, let's call it "Advanced Training", in the burning metal fields, was a graduation certificate with honors of the band from Walsh. It feels that the band is on a leap forward in terms of maturity and confidence. The songs sound solid and constructed properly, everything is closed properly and there are no loose ends.
In this album, they decided to go to a "commanders course"...
Only a year after the release of the previous album, the band members sat down to work on the above album. They said that the success of the previous album was a dream come true and reflected everything they aspired to as a band. They felt they were heading in the right direction, being a band and making music. Since they were so excited about the path and the result they wanted to start work very fast on the next album, to take advantage of the momentum they have as a band within themselves and not outwards. They enlisted producer Don Gilmore and started working on the album.
Singer and bandleader Matthew Tuck said they enlisted Don to help them sharpen their knives and aim their weapons. They wanted to take the power, talent, and ability of "Bullet" and polish it in the studio with Don. The great emphasis was on vocals. Matthew knew he needed to improve and professionalize his singing abilities and that was one of the main goals in Don's role.
They tried to bring to the studio the singing energies they have in live shows, making the vocals stronger and more penetrating. Matthew said that the time it took to record the vocals was double the time it took to record all the other instrument parts on the album. And not only that, the lyrics also underwent a significant change here when Matthew writes the songs while working on a song and not like before when he would write only after the song was instrumentally done. He and Don would rewrite the song four and five times until the result was strong enough in the eyes of all the band members.
Although this is only the third album of this deadly band, they chose to go back to the roots of the first album. It may sound funny if we compare it to bands that have 10 albums or more but there is something interesting here. After the great success of the second album, which was honed to perfection and provided a formula for success, they felt they had achieved what they wanted and can now create without concern for what audiences, record companies, or critics will think. They can return to creating as in the first album (which was also a great success), freely and loosely without definitions or guidelines. Some argue that this album is actually a combination of the band's two previous albums.
Already at the opening of the album in the song "Your Betrayal", we get the "call to battle" with the rhythmic snare beats when all the other members of the band join as in the scene of an elite squad before going on a mission in an action movie. This is also the first single from the album and it's a "business card" of the album's reputation.
We hope you did not forget to put on your protective clothing because the next song "Fever" will explode inside you if you pay close attention to what you are doing. The fourth single that came out of the album and also bears its name, expresses the powerful abilities of the band's great drummer Michael Thomas.
The third song "The Last Fight" is the band's all-too-familiar and powerful DNA, powerful and fast melodic riffs combined with a fun singing melody to sing and roar with a rhythm section that holds amazing transitions and speeds. This is the second single from the album and if we said that the first single was the album's "business card", this song is the band's "business card".
The following song is an example of the band's experimental parts on the album. "A Place Where You Belong" is a ballad that ranges from heavy to light and gives the band the ability to play with the singing, riffs and solos between strong and caressing. Matthew said Don also helped them experiment in places they had not been and never thought of before.
Now say... "Pain" or "Pleasure", we have an unequivocal answer, "Pleasure And Pain", its a sheer pleasure. Matthew screams his soul to the all mighty or his spouse, you decide, and informs him / her that he feels only pain and not pleasure. A great stadium and party song.
Another stadium song "Alone", with an epic opening that will make you stand and spread your arms to the sides, then you will already be running wild without a care in the world. After this song you can quietly go to ... "You can die and rot alone".
Continue with the song "Breaking Out, Breaking Down" which is a stopover for the next song and no less and no more than that. Then we land on the ballad "Bittersweet Memories", the third single released from the album and this time we know he is talking about a spouse and not God. Matthew knows how to write really good ballads about love and relationships (see entry "Tears Don't Fall" from the first album). A heartbreaking metal drama of sour and sweet memories, the third single released from the album.
The album is signed by three songs that will assimilate the DNA of this band if it has not happened by now. So be honest with "Dignity" and do not ask for mercy with "Begging For Mercy" because you know that sometimes what looks beautiful on the outside is not necessarily beautiful on the inside in stark contrast to the song that ends the album "Pretty On The Outside".
We really like this band and this album especially, it has something in it that keeps you close much longer than other bands we know. And even though it has distinct DNA it still manages to diversify, change and innovate (see entry on its latest album bearing the band's name and released in 2021).
Did you buy body armor, helmet and goggles? Well done, now click play at: Spotify, Apple Music