Review by Richard Henry for MPM
Nice almost nu metal style riff batters in with this, almost Disturbed in nature, that’s a dirty bass tone driving along that verse with the drums and vocal, nice little clean guitar comes in with the pre chorus, then the chorus itself is massive, guaranteed to have the crowd joining in for that one, nice solo in the middle, really melodic and a nice break in the section, the vocals are really good all the way though, nice breakdown after the middle then back into the chorus, that’s a really strong opener!
Apologies
Interesting opening, almost like a dance European sounding track, before the drums them come in and really punctuate the vocals, the guitars sort of just become a wall of sound more like a texture in the chorus, I love the vocal layering as well, obviously a song about addiction, the vocals spitted out in the verse section, it’s a very heavy song vocally, and it’s almost like a soundtrack in feel in that again the riff sort of becomes a wall of sound with the synth soundscape, really great track, love the lyrics on this one!
Mayday
Nive four on the floor bass drum and bass to bring this one in, that’s a bouncy riff comes in with the screamed vocal, then it sort of breaks down to a lo fi drum beat and an acoustic guitar before the bass and drums then come in again, then the whole band kicks in for the chorus and it really hits hard, great clear production on this, this one is sort of in and done though it verse chorus twice and that’s sort of the song, bit short is the only thing with this one!
Kill Me Fast
Great vocal comes in, it’s very tender sounding with the clean guitars, then the drums sort of come in halfway through with the bass, it’s a good verse and it just builds with the vocal performance, the builds in the chorus with the tell me when it’s over refrain, the verse though is where it really hits the way they bring it down and then just keep building into that huge chorus, nice middle with a little guitar figure in the background it builds and then all of a sudden it drops to just the acoustic and the chorus before it builds up again, absolutely should be a single!
In Waves
Thats a slab of a riff there and a really grinding halftime feel to it, then it breaks right away into the verse part, cleaner guitars and the bass and drums driving it with the vocals, it’s the chorus the vocals start to soar and the whole thing just lifts up, that’s a great vocal performance yet again, I love this song because it has a real heft to the guitar riff, just adds punch to the album, but again like every song so far when it hits that chorus the whole song just gets massive, nice call and response vocal in the middle part as well is a really cool little section, before the breakdown before the last chorus which they have done on most tracks, love this one!
Alienation
Really odd little melody at the start before a proper heavy riff comes in for this, real headbanger of a groove as well, nice use of that little melody at the start for the verse one line with that and the other with the riff to split it up, hits the chorus and goes half time and it gets really heavy, and yet again it’s a great chorus, some nice drumming from Neil in that middle section before that huge chorus comes in, really love this track!
Never Ordinary
Acoustic guitars to start this one, with a huge layered vocal part as well, love it, the verse stays with the acoustics with the bass driving it and a subtle drum beat and then they start to add guitars underneath to build it up, then the heavy guitars and the band come in for the chorus part, again it’s just huge sounding, like every song so far, there is no way that the crowds will not be singing away with any of these songs they are so very catchy, the middle section gets very layered with keys following the riff it’s a great little section to split the song up before it gets back to the chorus!
Deathwish
Big slab of a riff starts this off, that’s going to cause a few sore necks when that hits live, sort of breaks into the same riff on acoustic for the verse, which is a really cool part because it doesn’t lose any of the drive at all, then as you can guess, massive chorus part again, really nice transitions into the different parts and some very good arranging of the song, lovely solo right there, very middle eastern sounding in feel, also nice to hear some solos, pretty void of them so far, back into the chorus, it’s a really slamming riff though that starts and ends this one!
Don’t Wanna Go Home Tonight
Slow deliberate beat with the synth and a muted guitar part, I love the way they build a verse, the little guitar parts in the back where you can just hear them and the way they add the vocal intensity to it, it just keeps building while still staying subtle, now there is your hit, that chorus is absolutely radio friendly for sure, middle section builds and adds a doubled harmony vocal with a little repeating guitar part, really nice before you go into acoustic guitar and vocal before the band comes back in for the last chorus, this is 100% a radio song!
In Cold Blood
Now that is a riff, that is a neck breaker of a part right there, it doesn’t last long is the problem, we are into the verse and the bass is driving this one, some nice doubled vocals as it builds before the stop and into the chorus, it’s definitely a formula they have and it’s a good and bad thing, you sort of know what’s coming and how they are going to arrange the songs, on the other hand it absolutely works as well! Good track, I love when these guys stick to the riff for a bit, really shows off how heavy they can be!
The Power
Blast of guitar feedback and we have another big riff that lasts 4 bars and then into the bass and drum groove with the doubled vocal, then the atmosphere and clean guitars come in as it builds into the verse, where again you get the higher doubled vocal and the synth layers dance around the edges of the riff, great vocal hook in the chorus but again its sticking with the formula that most of the songs have had, the middle is majestic though, really lifts the whole song and a great vocal as well into a nice little break that leads back into the chorus again!
Another Relapse
Thats a dirty riff to kick this one off, but again back to the bass and clean guitar, I knew it was coming, there are some nice additions to the verse with little peppering of dirty guitars, then into the heavy chorus, although the vocal on the chorus is great with little falsetto notes in the vocal, that riff at 2:30 is just filthy, that’s the heaviest part so far on the album and it sounds great, but it’s over pretty quickly and back into the chorus, a good track but after 12 songs there are no real surprises?
7 out of 10
Are the songs great, absolutely, are they catchy, yeah, is the production massive, absolutely. My issue is that every song pretty much follows the same structure and formula to a tee, and that after the first half of the album sort of gets repetitive, and that’s my only real issue, every about the album is great but 12 songs that are sort of the same is a bit fatiguing
THREE DAYS GRACE will return to the stage with Breaking Benjamin this Fall, with special guests Return To Dust before heading to Europe with support from Badflower.
THREE DAYS GRACE UK TOUR DATES
09/12 – Birmingham, O2 Academy
10/12 – Glasgow, O2 Academy Glasgow
12/12 – Manchester, O2 Apollo
13/12 – London, O2 Academy Brixton
BAND MEMBERS
Adam Gontier – vocals
Matt Walst – vocals
Barry Stock – guitars
Brad Walst – bass, backing vocals
Neil Sanderson – drums, keyboard, backing vocals
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