Review Summary: One step forward, two steps back.
In the music industry, four years is tantamount to an eternity; while some established artists do manage to survive such a length of time with their sound, reputation and fanbase relatively intact (if only by virtue of having been around for so long that they become associated with a specific, almost trademark sound) newer acts that lay dormant for that long will inevitably find themselves struggling to re-establish their name in a scene which will, by then, have gone through at least a couple of trend and paradigm shifts, and may even have moved on and forgotten about them.
This is, of course, less of an issue for side projects and 'supergroup'-style ensembles, where the musicians' prior track records ensure at least a modicum of interest from their main acts' fanbases, and minimize the effects of longer gaps on relevancy. Such was the case, for instance, with radio-rock outfit Saint Asonia, who, after releasing a self-titled debut in 2015, promptly went into a prolonged recording hiatus, the better to deal with some lineup turmoil, only to re-emerge in 2019 a little less 'super' than before, having lost their all-star rhythm section (despite bassist Corey Lowery never actually having recorded with the band, his presence and name were still a draw to many fans of the genre) and chosen to keep things 'in-house' with regards to their replacements, with Staind stickman Sal Giancarelli taking over the drum stool, and bass duties being entrusted to Adam Gontier's own cousin, Cale - undoubtedly the least famous member ever associated with the project.
Still, despite the downgrade in name recognition, these changes did help ensure the project's continuity, preventing them from falling into the endlessly growing pile of one-and-done 'supergroups' which fizzle out almost immediately after releasing an album, and instead enabling them to make their re-entry into a somewhat less crowded, but also somewhat different mainstream rock scene; and, to their credit, band masterminds Gontier and Mike Mushok were savvy enough to know how to navigate that new paradigm without losing the basic essence of their sound.
In fact, where the debut had been very much a self-contained affair, with Gontier and Mushok writing all of the material and surrounding themselves with trusted accomplices on the technical front, sophomore effort
Flawed Design sees the group expand their network of collaborators, securing help from professional songwriters - including Breaking Benjamin's Keith Wallen, Starset's Dustin Bates and producer and unofficial 'fifth member' Brian Sperber - on all but two songs on the album (three in the Walmart exclusive and European releases), as well as from a couple of special guests: Within Temptation's Sharon del Adel, who shares vocal duties with Gontier on
Sirens, and Godsmack's Sully Erna, who provides bridge vocals on lead single
The Hunted.
Surprisingly, however, despite all the lineup changes and outside contributions, Saint Asonia's core sound remains fundamentally unchanged from the 2015 debut. While a vague progression towards a more nondescript and less immediately identifiable radio-rock sound is noticeable in certain songs - and while Gontier appears to have finally moved on from his usual themes towards the currently more common subject matter of unity, strength in numbers, self-confidence and overcoming of odds - the bulk of the album's eleven tracks (incidentally, the exact same number as on the first album, and once again beefed up by two extra tracks on the limited edition release) continues to sound, first and foremost, like circa
Transit of Venus-era Three Days Grace, with the electronic elements replaced by a few seconds of guitar noodling on the bridge; in fact, it is almost a little disappointing to see that, even when surrounded with multiple able and like-minded lancers, the group remains unable to unlatch itself from its one pervading influence.
Significantly more encouraging is the fact that, while the sound itself has progressed very little, the main issue to be found with the debut has been addressed and corrected: perhaps by virtue of surrounding themselves with so many seasoned professionals, Saint Asonia's songwriting standard has improved in leaps and bounds. In fact, while even the standout tracks from the first album faded from memory shortly after said record had been put aside, the best moments on
Flawed Design assert themselves almost immediately, and manage to linger long enough afterwards to potentially justify a spot in a genre or workout playlist, actively inviting repeat listens even outside the context of critical analysis; similarly, while
Saint Asonia (the album) struggled to deliver three above-average tracks, a solid half of the follow-up is strong enough to vie for the podium, with the absolute best of this new batch of songs even living up to scrutiny against many of Three Days Grace's or Staind's own hits.
The most obvious example of the latter is
Sirens, a vaguely Lacuna Coil/Amaranthe sounding track – albeit without the latter's trademark harsh vocals - which would stand out simply by virtue of presenting a male/female vocal dichotomy, but which also happens to feature the strongest chorus Three Days Grace never wrote; elsewhere, the likes of
Blind, Another Fight, the title track or limited edition bonus track
Weak and Tired would not only have fit into, but actively elevated most of the released from Gontier's former band (
Life Starts Now, for one, might wish it had featured tracks this strong.) Overall, any of the aforementioned songs is a guaranteed big, dumb good time, and helps put Saint Asonia's sophomore release head and shoulders above their first (and the threshold) where quality is concerned.
That is not to say, however, that everything on
Flawed Design is a hit; on the contrary, the record suffers immensely from uneven song placement, with a string of unremarkable tracks – which surprisingly includes the Erna-fueled lead single - completely halting its momentum just as it is building, only for another couple to surface towards the end, shortly after the album has managed to recover from the initial stumble with a series of strong cuts (in this regard, the presence of the two bonus tracks is immensely beneficial, as
Weak and Tired makes for a much stronger full stop to the album than much less remarkable original endpoint,
Martyrs). The overall result is an album which evolves in peaks and troughs, with every decidedly above-average moment being offset by a decidedly
very average one, which actively holds the album back from achieving the level it appears to be aiming for, despite its best efforts to the contrary.
As such, while a vast improvement on the shockingly lackluster debut,
Flawed Design is, when assessed in isolation, ultimately still no more than a fair-to-middling album, from a band struggling to live up to the names, reputations, experience and past output of its main creative forces. Perhaps, as the old adage goes, third time will indeed be the charm for these radio-rock veterans; as it stands, however, Saint Asonia are still barely more than also-rans in a scene already overflowing with them.
Recommended Tracks
Sirens (feat. Sharon del Adel)
Another Fight
Flawed Design
Weak and Tired (Bonus track)
