Lostprophets
The Betrayed

Release Date: 2010 | Tracklist

Numerous conflicts with producers and labels, various delays, an album-worth of material scrapped and other misunderstandings among the band members have lead Lostprophets fans to believe that their 4th studio album was never going to happen. However, the prophets decided to take matters on their own hands. The result? A cleverly constructed record that will surely please fans of both the Start Something and Liberation Transmission-era.

On "The Betrayed", Lostprophets use a series of new instrumentation techniques: rather than blasting a few riffs here and there, they add smoothness to some songs by cleverly using different guitar textures. Perhaps newcomer Luke Johnson had some say in this experimentation as he too is testing a rather NIN-ish drum construction in "If It Wasn't For Hate...", which leads to a rather awkward named track ("Dstryr/Dstryr"). It definitely shouts "Start Something". Dominated by screams, using a "Burn Burn" style bridge, and filled with aggressive lyrics ("Religion need a new employer / I've got the rope to hang your Jesus even higher"), Dstryr is definitely a powerful start to the album and most likely a signature to the title, "The Betrayed".

A dark track leads further into the darkness: "It's Not The End of the World". Hearing it live, I expected the song to be a bit extended with piano in the beginning rather than blended in Dstryr. No matter, the lyrics here are also a strong point and are definitely the center of attention ("Under this blood red moon I'm deafened by your screams"). The apocalypse and the panic ends with "Where We Belong" ("I'll take these storms away / Start a brand new story"). I don't know if The Betrayed is actually a concept album but it feels like Mr. Watkins is actually telling a story here and it's definitely becoming more and more obvious with each track. Anyway, this song represents the more anthemic part of the record, resembling the style from Liberation Transmission-era for which Lostprophets were quite criticized.

The critics should stay put for a while as we get in the car with "Next Stop Atro City". Here, Luke uses different styles of drumming that work well for each part of the song while Ian's voice is edited somehow during the verses. The riffs seem a bit too in the background and they don't really present the actual heavy feeling of the track. It more or less sounds better live without too much studio trickery. "For He's a Jolly Good Felon" is again an interesting title. The main riff is pretty much indie influenced and extremely catchy as are the lyrics: "Simon, don't stop with all the lying, cause we know where you're from you get along by taking things that don't belong to you". Again, Ian tells the story of growing up in the band's hometown and of a much darker past that suits the overall tone of The Betrayed quite well. Like I said, the term "concept album" becomes more and more obvious to me, although I may be wrong. The interlude after this song reminds me of Pendulum's "Hold Your Colour", which is nevertheless original to implement and give a sense of experimentation.

In "A Better Nothing" we get a taste of Jamie Oliver's piano and Lee's post-rock-ish guitar play. The song is extremely radio friendly and is begging for a single release. This is actually where we enter the zone of "Liberation Transmission deja-vu", and although the mood is quite relaxed, some parts definitely remind of the band's previous efforts. Some party going on in the background as we head towards the "Streets of Nowhere", as Ian would like to call them. The intro riff is very similar to Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl". The build-up to the chorus is the most melodic part of the song, and overall the track is really catchy and (again) radio friendly. "Dirty Little Heart" adds a little drama to the scene as Ian's "hero" feels a bit homesick: "Another night, another year that's gone, raise your glass, I'm not home tonight / Nothing's changed, but everything is different, getting cold at the bus stop light". The song also tells the story of a broken relationship and attempts of suicide: "All the days, all the times we've spent making plans for another life / Staring out of a backseat window, making cuts with a plastic knife". In terms of lyrics, the song is superb, while the instrumentation is quite flawless and centered around a simple piano construction and post-rock guitar textures. After an almost two minute long interlude with processed beats and piano we get a pretty standard song, that creates an uplifting atmsphere with its experimental electronic rock riffs, "Darkest Blue".

The Betrayed reaches a critical point at the end with the epic album closer, that is unusually different than the rest of the songs on record, "The Light That Shines Twice As Bright...". "Take me by the hand and lead me to slaughter" is what Ian begs at the beginning of song. He later points the finger, repeating "You" and moves along by claiming "you took apart my soul, put me on my knees and cut my throat". The instrumentation is quite unique: no drums at the beginning, only a few synths and guitar textures accompanied by a piano constructions. As the kicks come in, Ian ascends his voice, confessing and repeating "This is how it feels" as the improvised electronic samples and beats fade out as the album closes.

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3.2 good

Rank: #0 for 2010