I have been a huge fan of this Canadian band for such a long time. I think I picked this up in my time in Canada, probably Brittany a good friend let me hear it and I fell in love with that first album
At that time it was of course really relatable especially songs like "Nothing To Lose" and "Try Honesty" were songs I really felt connected to. Especially the first one, having been a victim of minor bullying I really understood. I say minor, because it was mostly vocal and my bike had a really hard time as they often tried to break it. That first album helped me through so many hard times.
Then I missed an entire album and fell back in love with this band when Saint Veronica came out, which is their hit song of that album. From there I kept following the band, and in 2017 I had the change to finally see them live at Lowland festival, which was awesome, but I was a little sad they played only one or 2 songs of their first album. Shit happens.
If you have never heard of this band before, then I will tell you a little bit about them, they are from my second home country, Canada, from Mississauga to be exact, which is near Toronto, Ontario. Their music is described as post hardcore, hard rock, or alternative rock. I would go with hard rock, what makes them different, if the high pitch voice of singer Benjamin Kowalewicz. It is definitely very loud, a little angry and a little rebellious. I think that is the perfect mix for me.
So there is a new album, of which of course I have missed the original release which was apparently in Januari. I hope you don't mind that I still want to write about this as, I am now going through my first listen of the album. I think I said this before, I have such a large amount of bands that I follow that, I sometime miss things like this. And I think it still value even if I am posting about this a half year after its release.
Crisis of Faith, shall we, came out in Januari, and I think this is another COVID based album, like we have seen a lot of around. And it is ok, times were strange for 2 full years, and it gave a lot of artists fuel to write. The first song, is so Billy Talent, right off the back you will recognize their iconic sound. Interesting new sound on that first song is the added saxophone, that is something new, I like it. Really great start of the album. I have listened to the entire album as I am typing away at this post, and I am noticing that this album is more subtle, not a loud as the others.
I think Forgiveness I + II is most definitely my favorite song of the album, it has that really cool Billy Talent vibe, and I really like that they have a nice build in the song, strong start, slower middle part with the sax is really awesome! Reckless Paradise, also really much like what you would expect from this band.
There are also a couple of songs, that are not so strong, they are slower, almost like a pop song. I am not sure how I feel about these ones, like "I Beg To Differ (This Will Get Better), "The Wolf and "Hanging Out With All The Wrong People. I have tried them a couple of times, but they don't stick. Maybe it because they are a bit slower, maybe I just have to get used to them trying something different. I do like their ballad "For You" I just think it is really cute.
Conclusions, this is a very decent album, but has some major ups and downs. Overall it sounds still very much like Billy Talent and I love them for it! Is it their best album yet? No, it is not, but it is a solid one. I will leave it a that. I have one final note, the album art, is awesome!
Let me know in the comments what your thoughts are on this album.
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