Post by Josh McLaughlin on Jun 24, 2013 6:51:00 GMT -5
Producer: Howard Benson
Released: June 25th, 2013
Skillet are a band that have been pushing hard for a long time but are only starting to see the result of so much hard work. Beginning in 1996, the band quickly rose through the ranks of the Christian Rock scene, but it took until 2006’s “Comatose” to break into the mainstream’s eyes. Fusing orchestra elements, soaring melodies and tight, dark rock, the band definitely found a fitting and unique sound. They developed on this with “Awake” in 2009, which wasn’t as dark as “Comatose”, but still had their signature sound. Four years later, with a brand new lead guitarist in the group, can Skillet keep pushing further into the mainstream’s eyes with their ninth studio album “Rise"?
The title track “Rise” opens the album with Jen Ledger’s melodic vocals over a hard-hitting rock riff. John Cooper and Ledger trade vocals back and forth and the song builds up to a very heavy chorus. The band is tight, lyrics are great and the song is definitely a kickass choice for opening song. This is Skillet at their best.
After a chorus of young girls chanting “rise and revolution”, “Sick of It” kicks and and my god is it heavy! The guitars are pumping, the rhythm is tight and heavy and Cooper builds through the verse before breaking out into an infectious rock chorus. The band uses some electronic elements, which is new for them, but they don’t overuse it to the point that it takes away from the actual band like so many other rock bands are doing nowadays. So far, so good!
“Good To Be Alive” is next and is a lot more mellow compared to the first two tracks. The verse is driven by a piano and clean guitar combo, with a synth-sounding keyboard as well. It is a new sound for Skillet, very retro sounding. It’s a solid track, but the cheesy lyrics and somewhat dated sound stop it from getting beyond that. It’s solid nonetheless.
“Not Gonna Die” picks up the pace with heavy keyboard and guitar-driven riffs. It’s a pumping song and you can’t help but get into it, but at the same time, the sound is possibly slightly TOO familiar for fans of the band. It’s very good, but honestly sounds like it could have been on “Comatose” or “Awake”. It doesn’t do anything more to develop or improve on the sounds from those albums. I do really like the song, though. It would fit in well with their live shows.
“Circus For A Psycho” makes me eat my words from the last paragraph. The guitar is something completely different to anything I’ve ever heard from Skillet. With a high, super -fast guitar riff on top of chugging rock rhythms and electronic sounds thrown in as well, the sound is fresh, new and hard-hitting! This is an awesome hard rock song.
“American Noise” is a ballad that took a few listens to appreciate. On a first listen (it was the first song I had heard from this album), I must admit I was disappointed. On multiple listens I can definitely appreciate it more. While it isn’t one of their best songs, I have found myself humming it frequently throughout the last few days. It’s catchy and a change in pace.
“Madness In Me” is another heavy song. New guitarist Seth Morrison has definitely cut his chops on some of these songs, creating some kickass rock riffs. The song is solid, aggressive and catchy, but still maybe slightly too similar to previous albums or to other modern rock bands like Shinedown.
The album seems to have an abundance of between-song intervals with random quotes, repeated melodies and spacey soundtrack feels. While this may be made to give the album a connecting story, to me it doesn’t really pull me in or give me any real emotion, instead it just adds a heap of time between songs. I don’t know, I’m just not feeling it. “Salvation” is up next. I really love the chemistry between Jen Jedger and John Cooper, when they trade vocals back and forth as they do in this song and several others. The song is catchy, different and I love the lyrics.
“Fire and Fury” continues with more back-and-forth vocals. Ledger has such an amazing, unique voice which works so well with Cooper’s distinctive voice. This song lets us see a side of Cooper we have never seen before. It’s interesting for sure, and a huge deviation from their previous album sounds which is a good thing as a few songs were sounding a little too similar. I can tell that some Skillet fans will dislike this sound, but I for one rather enjoy it.
“My Religion” is a quirky one. It has a slightly industrial, alternative sound. It’s extremely different from anything I’ve heard from the band, and I’m still not sure to think of it. It’s definitely a “grower” song, where it will undoubtedly get better from multiple listens, but I don’t think I will ever love this one. One thing I’m sure of is that I definitely wouldn’t class it as one of the bands best songs.
“Hard to Find” is back to a more typical Skillet style. It’s melodic, the guitar is uplifting. John Cooper’s vocals soar in the chorus in this catchy, if somewhat generic song. I can hear this song getting played on radio. It’s an infectious, very solid track.
The last track on the album “What I Believe” breaks into the chorus with a keyboard lead as Cooper and Ledger swap vocals again. The chorus is catchy and the sound is tight, but the song doesn’t rise from good to great to me.
The album is solid for sure. There are some curveballs thrown by the veteran rockers, that’s for sure. Whether you like them or not, there’s still plenty of good old fashioned Christian rock from the band to keep you interested. It’s a decent listen, but just never goes from good to great, or really jumps out to me as much as “Comatose” and “Awake” did. The riffs seem slightly too familiar in places and the same can be said for the lyrics in some of the songs. This is an album you will likely listen to songs from every now and then, but rarely sit through the whole album. All-in-all, it is solid, but nothing overly ambitious or amazing. One of the b-sides from the album titled “Freakshow” is better than most of the songs on the proper production. This is still a good band, but it isn't the best Skillet has ever offered. Worth a listen.
Best songs: “Rise”, “Sick of It”, “Not Gonna Die”, “Circus For A Psycho” , “Fire and Fury” and “Freakshow” (b-side).
6.5/10