Review Summary: Great album, if you can get to it
Looking back at 2019’s Victorious, even longtime fans could say the band was dying. That mood evaporated when Dominion was released, lighting the flame again that was keeping the skillet hot. Now here in 2023 we have received Dominion: Day of Destiny, featuring some of their best work since Comatose.
Dominion: Day of Destiny is actually more electronically focused-- in a good way. Blending perfectly with the (actually present) guitar riffs, they really do add something to the album. Whether it is the high pitched, lyric related synths in Psycho in my Head, or the focused-from-the-start ones in Crossfire, you can always count on them to make a song enjoyable.
After White Horse, the closer of the original album, we are immediately drawn into the hard rock friendly opening synthesizers of Crossfire, which then builds into a simple yet effective guitar riff. Crossfire is more of a generic song, but nonetheless easily accessible and enjoyable.
One thing that you can count on in every Skillet album is the radio-friendly lead single. This happens to be Psycho in my Head, which made its debut back in December 2022. Even more electronically centered, this song gets very musically creative. The band experiments with lots of fun things, like a quick heavy drum leading into high synthesizers mixed with electric guitar. As for lyrics, it makes references to Monster: (this is the face I hate the other side of me/ help me believe I need to see the light in me). And on top of this, the post-chorus guitar riff is wonderful. The song is a joy to listen to.
Features on Skillet albums are rare. Reworking past songs is also not common. On this record, Skillet did both at once. Featuring Adam Gontier, Skillet remade 2019’s Finish Line into a simple guitar-centric track. Adam Gontier’s smooth voice goes great with the song, but overall it’s just an underwhelming remake that, even though the song wasn’t very good to begin with, is on par with the original.
The album starts to close out with Unbreakable Soul, which is really the only song to feature Jen Ledger’s vocals. This song stands out from the rest, not because it’s the best, but because of its glam-rock vein. From the opening triad “Here we go” fans are in for a surprise.
What better way is there than to end your latest work with a blast to the past? The Defiant takes the vein of the bands’ Alien Youth - Collide era, making it one of their best tracks to date. Ignoring the creative synthesizers from the previous tracks, The Defiant brings a constant guitar riff with inviting lyrics (quite literally). Long time fans will leave the record satisfied.
Dominion: Day of Destiny is regrettably not easily accessible. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad. It is actually quite good. People who have yet to get a copy of Dominion should get this edition; they may find an extra gem or two.
