Review Summary: Metal's resident bad boys correlate a label change with a more diverse approach and get surprisingly good results.
Let's forever keep a few things in mind - I have never been a fan of Attila, their music is a chore to listen to and they wear their edge on their sleeves. You need to be directly tied to the microcosm of their target demographic if you are to enjoy the album half as much as the group assumes you will. What started as a group of high school pals having fun turned into a sloppy mess that reeked of arrogance.
Guilty Pleasure is one of the worst albums I've ever heard, so I had low expectations when middle finger flaunting frontman Chris Fronzak announced this album over the summer, their first via the newly formed SharpTone Records. My low expectations were validated when Fronz dropped an apology video claiming he'd renounce his past behavior, only to reveal he was just kidding only 24 hours later.
With that said, lead off single "Public Apology" is a piss-poor effort and is one of already many songs of its kind in this group's catalog. While the track mostly departs from the heavier spectrum Attila has long ventured into, it goes somewhere only marginally better - the most lazy and uninspired nu-metal this side of Limp Bizkit. Standard Attila lyrics coupled with 2000s nu-metal instrumentals and you've got yet another Attila song you want to skip, skip and skip some more. The three singles that followed fared better than "Public Apology" and for different reasons. Album opener "Ignite" is another serving of familiar Attila, though the instrumentals are much improved and while Fronz goes out of his way again to remind you he doesn't care what you think, his unclean vocals sound more well rounded.
"Bulletproof" sees self proclaimed clean vocals from Fronz for the first time ever and while the instrumentals are again an upgrade compared to past releases, Fronz's clean choruses are very lackluster. Granted, this is his first time experimenting with a truly clean voice on an album, but it doesn't sound truly clean. There's too much strain and grit there to not call it what it is - yelling. Fronz yells the choruses and hoarsely screams the verses, though the track still manages to far outstrip any song off of
Guilty Pleasure. The last single released before the album's November 4th release date was "Let's Get Abducted" and simply put, it's the best song of Attila's career.
"Let's Get Abducted" sees Fronz and company experiment with more supernatural themes and Fronz' uncleans are the best they've ever been. Fronz does have some diversity to his screams. What starts as deathcore highs turn to metalcore mids and finally, deathcore lows. Fronz isn't a terrible unclean vocalist, so props to him. Attila may draw one or two comparisons to Rings of Saturn with this track, but the track is easily distinguishable from the latter group. While the sequencing of this track, among others off
Chaos is very predictable and I promise you, there are plenty of breakdowns, Attila has scattered traces of improvement and risk-taking all across this record; it makes for one of the biggest surprises of 2016.
Never wanting to snub the fan base (or to not remind you he doesn't care), Attila packages the album's second half with several more heaps of the Attila you came to know. While the group has thankfully strayed from the chugging riffs and bass pedal thumping that plagues other bands on their former label Artery Recordings, the lyrics remain a hindrance to this album's progression. Tracks like "Obsession" and "Moshpit" carry a much deeper hip-hop mold to them and the sensibility once again will only appeal to longtime fans; first time listeners meanwhile, will be much more inclined to be turned off by it. Once again, the execution is leaps and bounds better than all of Attila's past discography combined, but it's still in stylistic limbo.
"Legend" is another discreet callback to 2000s nu-metal, featuring mid-tempo instrumentals and even more lyrics about drinking and smoking weed. As mentioned, longtime fans will adore this while first time listeners are likely to cringe. Fronz tries his hand at cleans once again on this track and while he's far from the worst singer ever, he has some work to do. "King" closes the album in arguably the most vintage Attila way possible. Fronz does, however, put forth a much, much better performance with his uncleans. His rapped verses on other tracks from both this and other albums were plain annoying. Performances like his on this album closer are much tolerable and even likeable. Further props to Fronz for taking more risks, not being afraid to be more traditional and for straying away from almost all of the weaknesses he had before. Props to the instrumentalists for upping their game as well.
Chaos is everything the title suggests and then some. It's a Saturday night man cave soundtrack with everything longtime fans like, everything detractors hate and even some elements listeners like myself can be pleasantly surprised by. While all eleven tracks clock in over 3 minutes, the album as a whole only clocks in at 36 minutes, which is almost entirely on par with every other album in the catalog of what Artistdirect's Rick Florino appropriately dubbed "Atlanta's wildest crew." More listenable and less cringe-worthy than ever, Attila's seventh full-length outing
Chaos is the best work they've ever done and now have themselves poised to actually branch out and become a more well rounded group and that rides on the horns of one thing - contrary to what he tells you, Chris Fronzak does care...about the music. He put actual effort into this album and the record is stronger as a result.
