Review Summary: This is a party album, a repetitive and tiring party album at that.
There are plenty of bands that are really hard to take seriously. They are either so bad that you just toss them away and completely forget about them, or they know for a fact that they’re a giant joke and create music in an attempt to attack a genre for it’s flaws. The members of Attila know for a fact that they are never really taken seriously, they live under the label of ‘partycore’, as all of their songs revolve around doing something related to partying. Whether it’s getting high or getting trashed, it’s all covered in just a few of their songs.
“Rage” is the bands second full-length album, and besides being one flaw after another, it’s an album that never really has a dull moment. If you don’t approach this album seriously, it’s something you could have some guilty fun with. Each song on the album features most of the elements that make the ‘core’ genres so tiring and repetitive. From the breakdowns to the lazy guitar riffs, Attila is yet another entry in the commonly boring world of the ‘core’ genre. The trickiest thing to me about this band and album though is the fact that I can’t find a reason to actually hate them. Their music may be this or that, but it’s so much fun I find myself listening to it a lot more than I originally thought I would.
The members of this band have potential, which throws me off so much. Vocalist Chris Fronzak has an amazing range, going from death core lows up to crazy high screams. In between he usually throws in an understandable shout section, but his range works very well through the album. Most of the time, the guitar work feels lazy and uninspired, turning to the usual strum strum breakdowns. In songs like ‘Temper’ and ‘Rage’, we hear some pretty little riffs but they are rare and short. Drummer Sean Heenan is simple, he does nothing to allow him to stand out above the rest of the music. Most of the time it’s just him with a simple bass beat while hitting his symbols during a breakdown.
As mentioned before, Attila is a party band. Before and after every show, all these guys think about is getting messed up and playing their set. This is all reflected within their music, especially in the song ‘Strikeout’, which features the sound of a bong hit, a “CHUG” chant and more which deals around partying. The song ‘Rage’ tells of the band partying everywhere they play and having so much fun while they do it. These guys know how to throw a party, but it leaves you thinking how many songs can they create about partying before it becomes tiring.
Whether you choose to take this band and album seriously will affect your view on their music. If you take them too seriously you may find yourself throwing them aside like many other bands, but if you allow yourself to have fun while listening to them you might just find a tad bit of respect for these guys. The members of this band seem to always be the head of the party and they’re living their life, but when it comes down to their music they might want to sit down and focus a little more on creating an album that people can take a little more seriously. All in all, “Rage” is an energetic and fun album, but you can only do so much of the same thing before it gets tiring, and this one hits that point quick.
