Back by popular demand, Linkin Park is finally about to make a tremendous mark after 14 years since they first rose in 2000 for their release of Hybrid Theory. Unlike their 3 previous albums, their upcoming record, "The Hunting Party" is definitely a huge change in their musical direction from their poppy-electronica-chunk to their early nu-metal sound; but this time, it’s more towards heavy metal sound fused with punk rock.
As usual, Linkin Park is always well-known
for pushing their limits and innovating something both new and unexpected each
time their album is released. Known for creating quite a stir in their fan base
since the birth of Minutes to Midnight till the Living Things era, the stir
unintentionally splits Linkin Park's fan base into the "old" fans, the "new" fans and the "hardcore" fans. The "new" fans are the ones post-Minutes-to-Midnight who appreciate the more alternative,
pop-ish, sonic, futuristic sounds side of Linkin Park where the band feels like
putting the techno or electronica side of them into the frontline instead of
their heavy, nu-metal side. On the other hand, we have the "old" fans, the ones
during the Hybrid Theory and Meteora era, who appreciates the heavier side of Linkin
Park in terms of their drums and guitar works, and because of the fact that
they love Linkin Park for being nu-metal! (although Linkin Park members once
stated in their early days that they are not really fond with the idea of the industry
categorizing them into nu-metal). And last but not least, we have the true "hardcore" fans, who nevertheless love Linkin Park, no matter what direction they choose,
and being very flexible and supportive in whatever the band is doing.
Well, apparently, this album is damn good news to those “old" fans or perhaps, the "hardcore" fans as well! Imagine the four-chord progression of Linkin Park’s heavy guitar works of Hybrid Theory extended into more and longer guitar solos by Brad Delson (yes, more amazing solo pieces by him rather than the simple “Little Things Give You Away” or “No More Sorrow” guitar works) – the repetitive drum pattern extended into a very fast and a more longer pattern by Rob Bourdon (unleashing the best of him yet!), a faster rap tempo with more aggressive rap tone by the multi-talented rap genius, Mike Shinoda, and more rarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr by Chester! And another two good things; Linkin Park doesn’t seem to use their verse-chorus-verse formula too frequent anymore – so you can always expect unexpected things from the songs and this makes the listening adventure more exciting and full of surprises; you'll be like, "The F**k, I didn't expect that one coming." – and secondly, less instrumentals – they only have two instrumentals in this album, “The Summoning” – which is 1 minute long, rather forgettable instrumental – unlike their previous good instrumentals such as Session and Tinfoil – and the second instrumental would be “Drawbar feat. Tom Morello”. The instrumental has that ambient of dark, eerie which kinda gives the feeling of someone who is full of regret and feeling a total loneliness in a dangerous war field – not knowing whether will Death invite?
“Keys to the Kingdom” starts with a distorted, robotic scream-ish chorus by Chester (what a way to start an album! Combining technology and heavy rock at its best without being too poppy or electronic like “Lost in the Echo” or “Wake” or “The Requiem”). Both “Keys to the Kingdom” and “All for Nothing” have awesome guitar solos. “War” sounds like a punk rock sound mixed with heavy metal elements - due to the fact that the speed of the drum is extremely fast and not mentioning the guitar solo here as well! Just as f**king fast as Brad could be! Yes, this album will really serve the guitar fans well. There are moments where “Mark the Graves” sounds like a bit like the end-chorus of “Blackout” – try singing “Come down, far below” while listening to in between chorus anthem. “Final Masquerade” has that ballad feeling, similar to “Until It’ Gone” – and perhaps, stands a chance being played in the mainstream rock radio – except this time, it has that hard rock feeling rather than being like an alternative pop rock. “A Line in the Sand” – the last song of the album, kinda have that moments which have the riffs and the drums sound like the ones they used in "Victimized" and “Guilty All the Same” – I can’t help but feeling the obviousness of the similarities.
Overall, the album's strength is due to the fact that this might be the heaviest record they have done since Hybrid Theory. The band told us they will bring back the guitars or perhaps, the nu-metal sound on Living Things - but didn't quite do so. But with this album, they bring their nu-metal sound to another level with a perfect combination of heavy metal and punk rock.
Drawbacks, it will definitely be the lyrics. There are few songs that felt like the music was overpowering the lyrics or perhaps, the lyrics were too repetitive - so it made the songs less feel-able or felt like, it didn't really resonate personally between the band and the listeners. Linkin Park has definitely made better lyrics during their early days so this may not be their best lyrical works yet so far. Another thing was Chester's voice during the low pitching was not as good as what he used to be during the HT era (well, considering he's already like what, 38) - but he can still scream! And the last drawback would be the overall quality of their songs. There are few moments where it felt like the guitar works or the overall recording did not receive a heavy mixing treatment - as if the band purposely made in such a way that their musics sound like demo recordings - most probably to make the sounds feel fresh and authentic from the heart of Linkin Park, I suppose.
In conclusion, will Linkin Park continue in this direction for their future albums to come or will they be returning to their electronic, softer music? And how will the "new" fans react to this? Will this alienate them the way how the "old" fans were alienated when Minutes to Midnight or A Thousand Suns came out?
OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5
STANDOUT SONGS: “Final Masquerade”, “Drawbar”, “Wastelands”, “Rebellion”
p.s. If you are a fan of Linkin Park, you may wanna hear our band's music too here: Nic M Rayce Musics
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| One of his singles, premiering now |
Nic M Rayce basically owns a startup design agency back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - and has been a website/multimedia designer since 2008 - serving both the government clients and the private sector's corporations - building collateral for their marketing campaigns on TV, radio and the social media. He aims to produce his own production studio & marketing agency by 2018 which helps bands both artistically and musically. Check his artwork out here: http://nikharith.deviantart.com
