Review Summary: From Zero to nostalgia
Mike Shinoda always seemed to me like he is the engine that drives Linkin Park. He made a lot of the creative decisions, produced the music and he did most of the songwriting, even if Chester sung it. That’s how it always appeared to me. However, Chester was a very important part of the band as well. Not only because of his excellent singing, but he co-wrote many of their songs and brought a certain authenticity to the emotionally driven lyrics. Not to say that Mike’s lyrics weren’t authentic (he wrote Breaking the Habit), but Chester was clearly the guy with the most unsolved trauma and mental health issues. His suicide in 2017 practically being the sad proof of that. You just knew that his words were coming from a very real place.
Now Linkin Park have returned with a new album entitled From Zero and revealed Chester’s replacement in the band: Scientologist Emily Armstrong. I can’t bring myself to like this woman. Even besides the actual controversies, something about her just feels unnatural and fake. But if you also take the controversies into account, I guess it makes sense: Chester was a traumatized SA victim, while Emily was traumatizing SA victims. They are not the same. Therefore, a part of the band’s authenticity is gone.
To be honest: I don’t really know Emily. I don’t know what goes on in her head, whether she really believes in Scientology or how much creative input she had in the making of this album. But all I’ve heard about her as a person has made me less excited about the return of Linkin Park, which otherwise should’ve been the biggest event of the year for me. Especially since From Zero marks the band’s return to their original style of nu metal.
The song Two Faced being the best example of it. Mike’s energized rap parts here put me in full nostalgia mode for the year 2000. Then, after the second chorus, Emily pulls some inspiration from Korn’s Blind and whispers repeatedly the same sentence into the microphone before everything explodes. She screams her heart out, the music goes wild and in the middle of this Mr. Hahn gives us some good old turntable scratching sounds. This song is so nu metal a human manifestation of it would be a jumpsuit wearing Fred Durst with dreadlocks. If you always wanted them to make another Hybrid Theory, this as close as it gets.
While Two Faced is the most extreme example of them going back to their roots, many songs here are doing similar things. The Emptiness Machine was released as the first single and is also the album opener which seems like a very strategic move. It starts with Mike singing in his smooth voice, giving fans something familiar and not immediately hitting casual listeners over the head with metal guitars. Instead, the song takes it’s time to build towards the harder hitting parts, Emilys introduction and her screaming, which she is admittedly quite good at. In that sense, she works well as lead vocalist for LP, her raspier voice contrasting Mike’s.
The second single was the somewhat empowering but still angry nu metal anthem Heavy Is the Crown, which has often been compared to Faint from the band’s second album Meteora. A comparison that really makes you notice that the new drummer is kind of boring. Original LP drummer Rob Bourdon was the only one who had the balls to say no to the extra money and distance himself from the project. Colin Brittain took his place behind the drum kit. Colin, who has also worked as a producer on Papa Roach’s Crooked Teeth and Who Do You Trust, does an okay enough job for me to not get angry about it. Nonetheless, I again have the feeling that this is another downgrade.
From Zero tries to bring back the alternative rock/nu metal sound from the early 2000s and is at least partly successful in that regard. Whether it is Mike rapping over the stomping beat of Cut the Bridge or Emily’s screams: The album has several moments that bring back the vibes and the energy of Linkin Park’s first two albums. The punk influenced song Casualty and the trippy electronic rock track Overflow add a variety to the mix, that is much appreciated.
At it’s worst the new Linkin Park record is generic alt rock (IGYEIH, Over Each Other), at it’s best it is a reminder of what the band once was (Two Faced, Cut the Bridge, Heavy Is the Crown). Other songs deliver catchy melodies (Good Things Go, The Emptiness Machine, Stained) or surprise you with something different (Casualty, Overflow). Chester left a big hole in the band that can’t really be filled. Especially not by Emily. The remaining original members still give it their best though. From Zero can reach the quality of albums like Hybrid Theory and Meteora, but never stays there for more than a moment. If you are able to ignore the controversies, From Zero can be a very enjoyable listening experience. If you feel nostalgic for the old Linkin Park sound, I especially recommend it.
