Thousand Foot Krutch - The End is Where We Begin

The End is Where We Begin is Thousand Foot Krutch’s most recent and most publicized release. It’s really hard to classify these guys because they’ve spent the duration of their careers hopping back and forth across the line between hard rock and nu metal. Some of their albums are pure hard rock, and some of them are downright heavy nu metal. This seems to be the first album where they decide to find a balance between the two somewhat similar styles and do what they can to implement an equal amount of both into their music. I’ve never really been the biggest fan of these guys, but I’ve known about them for a while and I’ve enjoyed a few of their songs that popped up on random compilations that have come my way in the past. When I saw that they released this album, I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to check this out. After checking this one out, it turned into “checking out” all of the other albums that they’ve released. Oh yeah, speaking of nu metal, what happened?

Remember the first decade after the millennium (2000-2010) when nu metal EXPLODED in popularity and EVERYONE was listening to it? Bands like Godsmack, Korn, Drowning Pool, System of a Down, Slipknot, Saliva, Otep, Linkin Park, Mudvayne, Disturbed, Sevendust, Deftones, and Papa Roach were at the top of the food chain (and some still are) and some were releasing amazing and classic albums that many metalheads, including myself, fell for. This first decade of the 2000s was where nu metal ruled the metal genre; as hard as it may be for some people to believe or accept, it’s true. During this time Thousand Foot Krutch did not become the instant hit that some thought they would become. Instead, they took a gradual climb in both musical quality and popularity. Around the year 2008, the nu metal genre had already started to slow down. Godsmack went on an indefinite hiatus, System of a Down had split, Linkin Park had gone in a completely different musical direction, Mudvayne sort of evaporated after the release of their self-titled in 2009 due to their vocalist getting distracted with his other nu metal band, Hellyeah, and bands like Drowning Pool, Sevendust, Papa Roach, and Saliva had pretty much been forgotten about by most people.

Now that these monstrous bands are decreasing in sales, popularity, and overall publicity, the somewhat lesser-known bands that had spent this time under their shadows started to shine. Five Finger Death Punch, Hellyeah, Ill Nino, Stone Sour, Coal Chamber, Chevelle, and Thousand Foot Krutch suddenly exploded in popularity out of nowhere. The funny thing is…the sound of their music isn’t really any different than most of the other nu metal and hard rock bands out there. Thousand Foot Krutch, like 80% of the other bands that ride along that line between nu metal and hard rock, has always been nothing more than a carbon copy of what Creed was during the time that they released their first three albums. So if you think about it, it’s not the nu metal genre as a whole that has taken a fall…it’s just the REALLY big bands that have decreased in fame and the popular and underground bands that have continued to live on, some taking the newly vacant spots formerly occupied by the top dogs during that ten year period.

If you’re familiar with this genre and what the majority of the bands that come from it sound like, you already know what the new Thousand Foot Krutch album sounds like. Unlike most of my friends that stopped respecting and listening to nu metal years ago, I still have a handful of nu metal bands that I continue to listen to and enjoy to the fullest. So since I still see some quality in the genre, I’m still able to recognize good nu metal when I hear it and be able to separate it from the shitty nu metal. For me, about 70% of nu metal bands fall in the fuzzy area between these two extremes. They don’t really have any super disappointing qualities about them, they play the genre well, they know what they’re doing, but there’s a complete absence of anything that could possibly give them a boost or make them sound unique or ambitious. This is what Thousand Foot Krutch is; just bland.

I guess you could say that they’re unique because they can’t seem to decide between hard rock and nu metal, but even that isn’t saying much because THERE ARE ALREADY HUNDREDS OF BANDS THAT ARE DOING THE EXACT SAME FUCKING THING AND HAVE BEEN SINCE THE TURN OF THE FUCKING CENTURY!! It pisses off people like me that go through this genre searching for bands that ARE unique and ARE ambitious, especially since this is a band that has been around since 1995…THAT’S ALMOST 20 YEARS. With that said, it’s obvious that these guys are more than comfortable right where they are and don’t have any ambitions to push themselves musically because they’re so wrapped up in their lyrical themes which I’m not in any rush to discuss. Not only do I not care about a band’s lyrical themes, I don’t want to say anything about these guy’s lyrics because of the uproar of controversy it will cause; and we get enough of that bullshit on the internet enough (Sputnik Music, anyone?).

Anyways, if you look at this album and compare it to the rest that the genre has to offer, you can’t because it’ll blend in with everything else before you have the chance to compare and contrast. When compared to the rest of their discography, this is definitely one of their strongest releases, and, in my opinion, is the best album that they’ve released. There really isn’t anything in particular that I don’t like about this album. The singing is great, the vocal harmonizing is cool, the band is tight, all of the members do their part, they stay true to the genre, and they do a good job of contrasting sounds by throwing down really heavy shit and releasing some softer tracks to even things out. If you’re really into this type of music, then you’re going to love this album. As for me, I’m giving it a 10/20, right in the mediocre area where it belongs. 

Buckcherry - Black Butterfly

I didn’t discover Buckcherry until years after their breakthrough album, 15, was released. By that, I mean that I found out about them the year that Black Butterfly was released…two years after 15. Being part of the metalhead community and subculture, I’ve seen and heard countless rants about Buckcherry and whatnot, but they’ve always been a group that I’ve strongly appreciated and respected as being one of the better bands in the modern hard rock scene. Although I will admit that after getting completely used to hearing the EXTREME complexity of extreme metal, it has been much more difficult to see technical and instrumental skills in rock (and pretty much most non-metal) musicians, it hasn’t impaired my ability to see creativity in the minds of these musicians; especially in the minds of Buckcherry.

I wouldn’t say that Buckcherry has a heavier rock sound like other hard rock bands like Kutless, Disciple, Point 1, and Motorhead. I would actually consider Buckcherry to have a much more upbeat and sometimes poppy sound. I guess I haven’t been completely worn out of this sound yet because I seem to be the only person I know that still enjoys it. But regardless of that, this album has the traditional upbeat hard rock sound that Buckcherry is known for, except it starts to go in a couple different directions during certain points of the album; which is none other than a sign of experimentation.

In 15, Buckcherry’s sound either went to a much heavier punk-oriented sound in songs like Crazy Bitch, Broken Glass, and So Far; or in a traditional soft rock ballad sound. Black Butterfly almost completely leaves the areas of the 90s punk sound and goes into a hard rock sound, which is a place that Buckcherry hasn’t ever visited before. There seems to be different types of hard rock; most of them coming from the mid-70s to late 80s. Black Butterfly has a sound that lies almost perfectly in between a really heavy sound and a really poppy sound; sometimes sliding off more in one direction or the other at times. This sort of transitioning sounds with each song is what I like to see in rock albums because a lot of today’s hard rock bands seem to stick to only one sound for each album.

Not only that, some of the songs have a more continuous, smooth flow like Rescue Me, Tired of You, Imminent Bail Out, and Fallout. And some of the songs have a more choppy, groovy feel like Talk to Me, Too Drunk…, and A Child Called “It”. There are some songs that have a unique sound of their own that set them apart from the rest of the album like Cream, which strongly reminds me of Green Day. For those of you that like the ballads from 15, there are numerous ballads that aren’t as soft sprinkled throughout this record.

Josh Todd’s voice is one of the most unique and easily recognizable singing voices I’ve ever known. It’s one of those voices that I would be able to recognize no matter what the situation was; whether it be the national anthem at the beginning of a sports game or a guest appearance in a jazz album or an Escape the Fate song. The guitar work isn’t what I would call AMAZING, but it is better than average rock guitar work. The drumming is generic but still fits the bill to make this album as strong as it is. The one musician that I wish would have more of a part is the bassist. First off, you can rarely hear what he’s playing. Second, I think that it would make the entire sound of the music sound catchier if he threw in some short bass solos/riffs here and there to keep the music more interesting. But other than that, there isn’t much that I would change about Black Butterfly, I would give this record 16/20. 

Forthangel - In the End EP

Why does the alternative metal genre suck now!??? I mean seriously, this is the kind of music that I listen to and it brings back old memories of being harassed in middle school and going home and playing a Breaking Benjamin album and using that music to release my anger and frustration. So when I listen to that kind of music, I want it to be good, but almost all of the new alternative metal/nu metal bands I’ve been discovering recently (primarily on Emurg.com) SUCK! THEY SUCK ROTTEN MOLDY PURPLE BANANAS!! And there is a large amount of people out there over the age of 19 that love this! There’s this one reviewer on that website that either has no idea what he’s listening to or that he just hasn’t heard anything better (which is understandable, but still, this guy is a full-grown adult and THIS is what he listens to in his free time??). Forthangel is one of the most disasterous trainwrecks I’ve heard out of the handful of new alternative metal bands I’ve looked up which include Black Water Rising, Like a Storm (more hard rock than metal), End of Story (which is what I want to happen to them as soon as fucking possible), Conflict of Interest, and Inside it Failed (which is exactly what happened to them).

The production quality of this album is HORRIBLE! I mean, in black metal, crappy sound quality is done purposely. But I mean, I can make a recording MYSELF in a garage and produce/mix it MYSELF and make it sound better than this!! Obviously these guys were WAY too deaf to notice that the vocalist was majorly distortion the mic and that the drums and vocals were overpowering and drowning out everything else to the point where you can’t hear the rest of the band at times! But that’s not the only mistake they made.

This kind of music is supposed to sound extremely powerful and emotional (i.e. Breaking Benjamin, Disturbed, Flyleaf, Skillet, and just about every other nu metal and alternative metal band you can find on my favorite bands list on Spirit of Metal). Part of what makes metal sound powerful is loud guitars with a really crunchy distortion and deep meaty bass to give the guitars some cushion. This EP FAILES AT THIS HORRIBLY!!! The guitars are barely even distorted and are extremely quiet (probably because the guitarists suck), which completely ruins everything. I can’t believe I’m the first person on the internet to point this out, because it’s literally the biggest fault this album holds.

The vocalist is terrible. Yes, he can sing in-tune and yes, he’s on-time with the rest of the band, but his singing lacks THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT A GOOD SINGER NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO DO!! The thing that his singing doesn’t have is EMOTION. He seriously sounds like he is drunk on his ass and is slurring all his words. His singing sounds dry, boring, dull, colorless, emotionless, and sounds like he has that “This is so boring! I wanna go home and eat chips and watch The Simpsons” kind of attitude.

There is the intro of ONE song that sounds really cool, but other than that, this record isn’t worth your time unless you’re REALLY curious (which isn’t bad at all). I would NOT recommend this to anyone who likes progressive and good music. I would recommend this to anyone who I would want to play a prank on, saying “this band is amazing!!” I would give this album 4/20. 

Like a Storm - The End of the Beginning

I have a feeling that if I heard this when I was 14 years old that I would have loved it a lot more than I do now. I guess that’s because at that time I hadn’t heard anything better than most of the “mainstream” nu metal/alternative metal that I primarily listened to at that time. Although there are still some bands from that time that still stick out to me more than three years later like Breaking Benjamin, Staind, Godsmack, Another Black Day, Flyleaf, Slipknot, Korn, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, and Taproot; I guess hearing the whole entire metal genre kind of “ruined” the whole alternative/nu metal thing for me. I went years where I barely even touched most of these bands that I used to listen to, and I’ve started to become curious about where these genres are today. The answer is that it’s not thriving nearly as strongly as it used to in the late 90s to mid-2000s. Of course there are bands that were around during the thriving period that are doing better than ever now like Godsmack, Taproot, Staind, Trapt, Avenged Sevenfold, Deftones, Drowning Pool, Korn (with their 2010 masterpiece that brings back the sound of their old days), and H.I.M. But the majority of the scene has pretty much faded out without much notice. So here’s one of the newer bands of that general genre that quite a few people have been talking about. Just to let you know, this band is more hard rock than metal.

One thing that I forgot about a lot of heavy rock and “mainstream” metal was the extreme simplicity of the overall song structures. That’s probably why most of the alternative/nu metal bands that still stick out to me today happened to have interesting and more complex song structures. But I mean, at least the more popular bands from those times at least had SOME complexity and creativity, because the musicians behind this album FAIL HORRIBLY at doing this. When you listen to Chemical Infatuation, aside from the choruses, tell me how many notes you hear the guitarists/bassist play. For those of you that don’t feel like looking up the song right now, the answer is TWO, two fucking notes! I can’t see how you could honestly think that you could pull that off and make it sound really good. It is possible to make it sound cool, but not if it’s just quarter notes switching back and forth between the two notes with a boring drum line as a “backup”. As much as the band failed at this, there is one thing that took me completely by surprise, and that is the chorus. The song switches from the overly repetitive and boring guitar lines to an explosion of color and tension that actually got my positive attention. The chorus is really good! That is, until it switches back to the two notes played in the beginning of the song.

Every musician in the band is below average in both skill and creativity. The only reason why I don’t consider this record a COMPLETE disaster is because their vocalist is FUCKING AMAZING. He is one of the best singers I’ve ever heard in this type of music. I mean seriously, what the hell does he think he’s doing in this band? He’s the only good thing about them and should quit and start a different band that consists of actual musicians; which will come with a 90% chance of INSTANT success. I’m going to say it again: I can’t begin to describe how powerful and crisp his young voice is! Hopefully he won’t stay with this rock band too much longer and realize that they sound like shit and he’s the only good thing about them.

I saw in another review that there was fusion of a lot of other genres in this album…….um…can you tell me where these “fusions” are? Because I certainly can’t find them! It all just sounds like alternative metal-influenced hard rock with a few ballads (which don’t count as fusing different genres). There are some signs of minimal experimentation on two songs where they add in some string instruments to give the songs a more emotional and melodic feeling.

Remember how I said that this album majorly lacks the complexity and technicality that I like to see in music? Well there are a couple of songs that show this band at least has the potential to write and play songs with some technical guitar lines. Several parts of Just Save Me really impressed me (and actually took me by surprise because I wasn’t expecting it) with their Breaking Benjamin-like guitar/bass lines to give the album some edge. After doing a quick overview of the songs just now to find the other songs that have some technicality and creativity in them, I realized that there aren’t. There is Enemy that just has some extra crunch on the guitars to make it sound heavier and that the last song, Keep the Pain Alive, is actually pretty good and an excellent slower headbanging song that has a strong Shinedown vibe.

Overall, this album is below average. Of course I have a certain level of understanding because this is a new band and this is their very first release. But still, I’ve seen A LOT better out of TONS of other bands. I mean, Black Stone Cherry’s debut release is better than this! And it’s boring and it pretty much sucks bananas! I would score this album a mere 6/20 with the only really good things being the amazing album artwork and the singer.