Review Summary: Billy Talent pushes subtlety to the side with their fourth LP
Since their terrific debut LP, Billy Talent's sound has remained pretty consistent. This fourth album expands it with some additional layers, but the core remains as solid as ever. They've never sounded better than on songs like
Viking Death March,
Crooked Minds,
Cure for the Enemy, and
Dead Silence. This is their best effort since their debut, with its weakest point being the somewhat bloated 54 minute length of this album.
What has changed is that Billy Talent has become more political. But only vaguely so. They lack the specifics, but they're on board with the general confusion felt by many of us about how things got to be the way they are.
On eleven of the songs on
Dead Silence, the environment degrades, global capitalism produces inequity, scene kids suck, war is terrible, and the mass media can be superficial. But who do we get mad at? Where do we direct our rage? AT THEM! Says Billy Talent. The establishment, the empire. Coming from Billy Talent, this message feels genuine. It's delivered with conviction.
At times we want music to validate our inner monologue that screams blame for everything bad in the world at some entitled man in a suit as he gets into his Maserati and peels out into the street, narrowly avoiding pedestrians. Sometimes we need that, however misguided and temporary it may be, because it helps us believe we're not as powerless as we think. Billy Talent gives us that music and I hope they continue to do so.
