Review Summary: Another band tries to bring something interesting to mainstream rock radio, yet ultimately fails.
Though they have been around for thirteen years, it was not until recently that Pop Evil was able to break into the mainstream. Their third album War of Angels debuted at #1 on the US Hard Rock chart, but it would be the band's fourth album Onyx that granted the most success. With a string of three number one singles, more than likely you have come across Pop Evil on the radio. I decided to give this band a shot and listen to Onyx, but what lies inside was frustratingly average.
An ominous bass lead opens the album with "Goodbye My Friend". It sure enough was the perfect omen, as what was to come on the ensuing twelve tracks was nothing short of average. The opening track is not that bad, as its chorus and overall instrumentation is acceptable yet far from exceptional. The real letdown of the song, and the whole album for that fact are the vocals of Leigh Kakaty. While I appreciate his enthusiasm and efforts to create a heavier sound, his screams are just dreadful and ruin any chances of a decent vocal performance. Another unraveling aspect of the vocals are the early 2000's nu metal-esque rapping vocals that are thrown in various songs such as "Deal With The Devil" and "Trenches". This really does not add anything to the songs, and in fact does the complete opposite to them.
The two aforementioned songs plus "Torn To Pieces" make up the three #1 songs this album has produced. Out of those, "Torn To Pieces" will more than likely be the greatest hit for the band due to it's infectious chorus, but the contemporary appeal it also possesses. Opening with a slow and somber acoustic riff, the song is a ballad about the loss of Kakaty's father. Unfortunately, due to the fairly generic lyrics, many people equate the song to just another generic song about the loss of love. On the flip side of this is "Trenches". In what is pretty much guaranteed to be the newest gym anthem, the song brings about the only big moments of the album. A relatively simple yet catchy lead riff eventually leads to an energetic chorus where the lead vocals finally soar a bit. "Deal With The Devil" was the second single off of the album, and offers a nice groove during the stanzas before and after the chorus. Unfortunately, the chorus does exactly the opposite of what it is supposed to do and brings the song down. Kakaty's "rapping" and awful screams can be found woven throughout, effectively ruining the song.
Even though it contained the three hit singles, the first half of the album is VERY underwhelming. Unfortunately, the second half is even worse. Nothing really stood out, but there were a few glimmers of "hey this isn't TOO bad" hidden within here and there. The best example of this is "Behind Closed Doors", which is really the only track worth mentioning out of this last half of filler. It seems to be the only one that showcases a tiny bit of genuine inspiration. "Welcome To Reality" would have been an okay song if it were not for the vocal "variations" of Leigh Kakaty. The album does however close on somewhat of a good note, as the energetic yet still generic "Flawed" comes in last as track number 12.
"Flawed" is a more than appropriate ending for Onyx, as that is exactly what this album was. It is frustratingly average because I believe Pop Evil has more potential than this. However, putting all of their effort into only the songs that were destined to be singles only proves that Pop Evil is just another run of the mill commercial rock band. Hopefully, this was just an effort to garner some mainstream attention, that way their future efforts will sell better, and they can focus on creating an album with more substance instead of one that is just made for the record company.
