AOTW is back in action after a couple weeks off! The albums I missed will likely be covered further down the line, but next Tuesday's might also be delayed because I'm proper busy, so apologies in advance.
In regards to this week, I've got to shout out my good friend Will (@WillCeney_) for the assistance with the Denzel Curry review; he's basically the MOPE hip-hop correspondent at this point. Anyway, on with the reviews n that x
Frank Iero and The Future Violents – Barriers
6.5/10
Best Tracks: Fever Dream, No Love, Police Police
FFO: Microwave, Remo Drive, My Chemical Romance
Frank Iero
made his name as the guitarist of one the world’s most successful rock bands in
My Chemical Romance. Since their (absolutely gutting) split in 2013, his solo
projects have always been the most interesting out of any of the former members
of the group; 2014’s ‘Stomachaches’
was a brilliant burst of catchy (yet chaotic) alt-rock, and ‘Parachutes’, two years later, was even
better – a swaggering, almost violently full-on record.
Now, on Barriers, Iero manages to cast the
widest net he ever has. It still features his trademark messiness - it
all feels like it could fall apart at any moment - but the production is far
more understated than his previous solo work. The defining quality here is that every track feels like a different genre, or at least a different musical approach, and such experimentation yields a number of great results. Opening song 'A New Day's Coming' is an intriguing, bluesy, '50s-style ballad; 'Fever Dream' has a gnarly, stomping riff which drives it along; 'No Love' lays claim to the album's catchiest hook, along with a captivating sense of atmosphere. Iero's personality and experiences are deeply ingrained in the record, and he's utterly unafraid to bare his soul, not least because Barriers is partly borne from a near-death experience the man had whilst touring his previous release.
Because of
how wildly disparate from each other some of the tracks feel, my main issue
with this album is that it can often feel tonally inconsistent. It's jarring, for example, to go from a messy, cathartic track like ‘Police Police’ to an earnest, piano-led
ballad in ‘Great Party’, even if both songs are enjoyable in their own right. This leads to
another problem, in that my enjoyment of each track can fluctuate depending on
the style. For instance, whilst ‘Medicine
Square Garden’ is perfectly competent in terms of songwriting and
musicianship, it just doesn’t grab me in any way because the quirky, lo-fi
atmosphere (with instrumentation mimicking the rhythm of Iero’s over-the-top
vocal performance) does pretty much nothing for me – particularly right after ‘Moto Pop’, an upbeat album highlight.
Barriers is a patchwork quilt of a record, taking parts
of a multitude of styles and piecing them together without an attempt to make it pretty. While it has to be said that sometimes this works in its favour, more
often than not it simply ends up feeling a little confused. The more I listen to the album, however, the further its claws dig into me - it, like the two Frank Iero solo projects before it, has the advantage of undeniable charm, and a number of songs which will keep you going back for more.
Denzel Curry – ZUU
7.5/10
Best Tracks: RICKY, BIRDZ Feat. Rick Ross, CAROLMART
Feat. Ice Billion Berg
FFO: Vince Staples, Duckwrth, JPEGMAFIA
In 2019,
hip-hop is the dominant force in the world of music at large. It might still
not get as much radio play as Ed Sheeran, or as many record sales as the
fucking Greatest Showman soundtrack (yes, still), but it’s the most popular
artistically viable genre of the past couple years - it’s exciting; it’s
boundary-pushing; it’s got far more breakthrough potential than something like
metal. You might have guessed by now that I don’t necessarily have my finger on
the pulse of hip-hop, but I do know which artists have made an impression on
me, and Denzel Curry is one of them.
Fans of his
will have recognised his talent since 2015’s 32 Zel, but more recently Curry made waves in the rock and metal
scene with his brilliant cover of the Rage Against The Machine classic ‘Bulls On Parade’, which showcased Zach
De La Rocha-esque aggression from the Miami rapper. It prompted me to revisit
his LP from last year, TA13OO, and I
gained a newfound appreciation for it – but I have to say that I prefer ZUU as a body of work. Even if it is far
less ambitious, the record feels tighter and more refined as a result, clocking
in at just 29 minutes long.
It’s the
big-hitters on ZUU that make it stand
out. The album’s first single, ‘RICKY’,
is undoubtedly the highlight, with a hook more infectious and memorable than
anything pop music has produced in the last five years. It opens the record in
a powerful way, and over time is backed up by similarly bass-oriented bangers
in the forms of ‘BIRDZ’ and ‘CAROLMART’. Between such danceable heavy-hitters,
more melodic (though equally punchy) moments are permitted to shine through, as
‘WISH’ and ‘SPEEDBOAT’ take influence from today's biggest artists in their use of autotune and floaty production. In fact, ZUU is ingenious in the way it mixes the new era of hip-hop with
old-school tendencies throughout.
Though there
are some stellar guest features on this record, none of them come within touching
distance of Curry himself. In terms of energy, flow, and - most significantly –
lyricism, he’s on another level. To be able to aptly provide personal reflection of spirituality, family, the death of his friends, and his roots in such an instantaneously catchy manner is no mean feat, especially when later on the album he allows himself a track dedicated exclusively to ass ('SHAKE 88') and it doesn't feel out of place. ZUU is, through and through, a testament to the ability of Denzel Curry.
Cursed Earth – The Deathbed Sessions (EP)
8/10
Best Tracks: Fear, Rock Bottom,
Operation
FFO: Jesus Piece, Thy Art Is Murder, Kublai Khan
Perth’s own
Cursed Earth have been through a weird couple of years. Just as 2017’s Cycles of Grief put them on the map as
Australia’s hottest export in brutality since Thy Art Is Murder, the messy departure
of vocalist Jazmine Luders in 2018 saw the future of the band threatened. Now,
with The Deathbed Sessions, they’ve made
their first, almighty step back on track.
This
ultra-collaborative project sees Cursed Earth make use of a different guest
vocalist on every track. It’s a simple idea which is pulled off absolutely
flawlessly, as each new voice offers something exciting and fresh whilst the
instrumentation ties everything together. From Kublai Khan’s Matt Honeycutt
coming across as threatening as ever on ‘Fear’,
to the fantastic interplay between
As
previously mentioned, the instrumentation that drives each song is the thematic
link between them, and it’s just as disgustingly, terrifyingly heavy as it
should be. With drums which sound like they're played by Godzilla working in combination with chugging, full-on, metallic guitarwork, there are countless next-level breakdowns and crowdkill-ready passages on this EP. All are gloriously violent. Somehow surpassing even those moments, though, is the song 'Operation', on which the band messes with structure and utilises glitchy white noise effects in a manner similar to bands like Jesus Piece or Code Orange. It means that once the vocals and typical instrumentation kicks in, it really hits ten times as hard - a stroke of genius which elevates the record even further.
The Deathbed Sessions is the battlecry
of a band refusing to die so easily. It’s spiteful, furious, and ignorantly
heavy, but inventive and exciting at the same time. Predictably, in-keeping with my tastes, this Cursed Earth project is my album of the week.
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