Review Summary: Rage Against The Machine, meets Linkin Park, meets Jesus. And it works, quite well at that.
Canada has a very mixed reputation when it comes to internationally known musical acts. It can sometimes be a bit hard to believe that the same country that brought the world Nickelback and Justin Bieber also gave us Three Days Grace and Kataklysm. One band from the land of ice hockey and excessive politeness, however, has gone somewhat unnoticed throughout most of their career. Thousand Foot Krutch, or TFK for short, are a Christian rock band formed in 1995. Originally formed under the name Oddball, the band consisted of current frontman Trevor McNevan, drummer Neil Sanderson of later Three Days Grace fame, and other friends of McNevan. The band sought to bring a Christian message to the world by jumping on board of the nu-metal craze brought about by bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit. With this mission, they recorded an impressive 24-song demo, which featured 12 rock songs and 12 hip-hop songs. An EP and a debut full-length album later, the band finally settled on a permanent studio lineup: Trevor McNevan on guitars and vocals, Joel Bruyere on bass, and Steve Augustine on drums. Along with this came a more fully-realized sound that effectively merged elements of rap and hip-hop with alternative rock. With this consistency finally instilled within the band, Phenomenon was made.
Thousand Foot Krutch are indisputably a Christian band, as is reflected in their lyrics, and each member being very open to the public about their faith. While not always, the "Christian" label in music can often be a symbol of low quality. TFK are one of the bands that defies this stereotype, and they do so with a passion. Their music utilizes the groove and rhythmic vocals found in many rap metal and nu-metal bands alongside simple, yet effective rock guitar riffs and progressions. As their career has gone on, the band has incorporated elements of post-grunge, pop rock, and more recently, southern rock into their volatile sound. Phenomenon, however, showcases TFK at one of their rawest and highest points. It's in that perfect place where it has the youthful energy and passion of the band's older material, but the maturity and skillful songwriting found on later albums. Each song on this album is very well written, and there are quite a few standouts. It's safe to say that Phenomenon is a very appropriate title for this album.
For such a well made album, the instrumentation on this album is very straightforward, and quite simple. The music is honestly laughable from a technical standpoint, being mostly composed of distorted power chords over 4/4 drums. It's certainly not impressive at all, but this actually helps the album keep its focus. The songs focus less on being flashy and more on being catchy, easy to rock out to, and quite simply, on sounding great. They don't try to impress you with fast solos or drum fills. They just play what sounds good, and let the vocals do the work. And yes, the vocals certainly are the main focus of this album, with Trevor McNevan making the most of his time in the spotlight. While he never utilizes all-out screams, his clean vocals have just enough edge to pump you up, but enough melody to still be easy to listen to. There is a lot of rap influence in TFK's music, but again, Trevor rarely actually raps on this album. The one time I would say he really uses spoken vocal delivery is on the bridge of "Bounce," one of the album's later songs. Even with this, the vocals are very fast, precise, and rhythmic throughout the whole album, and they absolutely scream "early 2000s."
This album has many tracks that stand out from not only from TFK's catalog, but from the alternative metal genre altogether. While each track on this album is great, the first five are easily the most memorable, and some of the most varied. My personal favorite song from this album would be the main single released from it, "Rawkfist." "Rawkfist" is a heavy, fist-pumping rock anthem with a melodic chorus and some of TFK's best riffs. You'd be lying if you were to say this song didn't get stuck in your head upon listening to it. Another major standout is "Step to Me," another melodic hard-rocker with a great chorus and a very catchy melody. A few others that are definitely worth listening to are the title track, "This Is A Call," "Last Words," and "Ordinary." And while some of the songs are better than others, all of the songs on this album are quite competent both in the context of the album as a whole, and as individual songs. Sure, not every song is a GREAT song, but they are all at the very least good.
While Phenomenon is a very well made album full of great songs, it's by no means perfect. The flaws that hold this album back are not large in number though. For one, some of the later songs on the album sound very alike. This isn't necessarily a bad thing all around, as consistency is important, but to a first time listener, songs like "Faith, Love, and Happiness" and "I Climb" can be a bit hard to differentiate. Another problem some may have is the aforementioned lack of technicality within the album. I personally don't find it a bad thing, but just don't expect to hear Christian Periphery when you put this into your CD player. Some may find the Christian lyrics annoying as well but this is also very subjective. The biggest problem I could say I really have with this album is that the album is only a bit more than 30 minutes long, so you can't help but feel like after you listen to it, you want more. I guess it is a true testament to the quality of this album though, that even after hearing all of it, it's still so good that you can't help but want more. All in all, there's really nothing "bad" about this album, yet it is only slightly held back by its brevity and technical deficiency.
Phenomenon is where TFK really became TFK to me. They have changed some, certainly, but the blueprint for most of the band's music since has come from this album. And I certainly can't blame them. The passionate vocals, simple, yet intense instrumental compositions, and especially outstanding songwriting are a recipe for great rock music, Christian or mainstream. It's the epitome of an overlooked nu-metal gem, which is almost surprising when you consider how truly good it is. If you are a fan of hard rock, alternative rock, or alternative metal, I would definitely recommend checking this album out. Thousand Foot Krutch's Phenomenon gets a 4.5/5. Definitely worth listening to and owning.
