Review Summary: More of the same. But somewhat improved.
This is it. Escape The Fate have reached what kind of feels like their magnum opus: I Am Human is their latest 13-track, one recycled song effort. While I can truly say that I have enjoyed ETF's previous work, this one just feels like an album they won't be able to live up to in some aspects.
I Am Human's strong suits are definitely the music and production: Kevin "Thrasher" Gruft and TJ Bell work absolutely beautiful here, while Robert Ortiz and Craig Mabbitt are a nice finishing touch on things. The production is a shining positive on here, despite how tough it can be to hear the bass (although that is quite a common issue with these so-called "scene metal" bands nowadays). For the most part, the lyrics are some of Mabbitt's most heart-felt and genuine, though some are just downright bad. Two of my biggest complaints are: how they seem to be stuck in their misery. Going for centering on heartbreak is fine by me, but its been done by Mabbitt and company so much since he debuted. It would be quite refreshing to hear something lyrically different: "Empire" seems to serve as this, being a sort of upbeat partying song, but is marred by such terrible lyricism such as:
"One more time doing one more line
One more shot till we all ignite
Spend all of my money and more"
And lets not forget the fact that "Let Me Be" is recycled from Hate Me. It's not even a re-recorded version. It's literally the same version as the one on Hate Me, though I can somewhat forgive this as according to them, it is more of the result of their label meddling in their business than the band's call. At the end of the day, I Am Human certainly won't top any "best of 2018" polls, but it's still a solid collection of songs that show that the ETF crew are still completely capable of giving their fans something to enjoy for a bit every couple of years. If you're even simply a casual ETF fan, I would suggest picking this up, but if you don't already like them, you probably won't enjoy this effort at all.
Stand-outs: "I Will Make It Up To You", "Four Letter Word" and "Do You Love Me?"
