It’s been an impressive showcase of resilience with this outfit that at one point had a revolving door of vocalists that now slickly sustain a high level of consistent performances and releases. FFAA’s latest finds the band in familiar form we’ve come to expect over the last few albums, although some vocal “dynamics” are peppered in throughout. This feels like a by the numbers release, but it seems that bands these days can’t just rest on their legacy catalogs and keep the clubs packed. Which is unfortunate because with so many bands rushing to release albums to compete or become a part of the narrative, the faucet of new tunes just keeps pouring. And to what end? Are we filling any cup to a certain point or pushing the boundaries in new ways? Not that every year we need to get more extreme or more progressive, but it just feels like as an art form, the library of not just heavy music, but all genres is starting to look a lot like the collection of Renaissance paintings at the Louvre. An endless barrage of material that will just never be fully explored.
But have bands ever been able to rest on their laurels and has this always been the landscape? Without an album in tow, will the tour admats and relevancy fall flat? And is it just the digital platforms that pollute the airwaves where so much can be dumped so quickly? The answer seems gleamingly obvious. So while we figure out if we can just rely on the history of a band’s past releases the way Gorilla Biscuits or perhaps even Deep Purple once did and keep swimming through the endless seas of content… Here’s another record! This is great, straightforward metal loaded with amazing drums and solos that makes sense in the band’s ongoing journey.
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