Review Summary: The band that everyone hates is back with their sophomore effort 'Will Never Die'. Brokencyde show a hint of possible progression but cast any hope away with their typical crunk, sexual, drug fueled antics.
Brokencyde, the band that 99.9% of people hate. But why do people hate them? Is it because their music is obnoxious, rude, mindless, plain stupid or just the embodiment of everything bad and talentless? It's a combination of all that and probably a lot more. Brokencyde have been on the scene for a considerable amount of time now and their hate levels have rocketed since the release of 'I'm Not a Fan..' now we've hit 2010 and Brokencyde are back....
Will Never Die is essentially a development from 'Not a Fan..' it is a growth but not necessarily the growth you'd be expecting. Don't think Brokencyde have changed for a second, Will Never Die is pure Brokencyde with a little extra 'spice'.
Vocals:
Brokencyde are notoriously known for their vocals, some may not even call them vocals: just pure noise. However, the screaming isn't that bad, compared to some bands where they struggle to even push out a high or stick to a bland range. Seven and Phat J rap and scream, Phat J provides the deep gutturals and growls; he sounds like a 'Deathcore cover teenager' from Youtube, his vocals add something, it provides a stark contrast to Seven's ear piercing screams that grow into yelps and steadily develop into something unexplainable. Phat J doesn't really shine, he tries to on 'U Ain't Crunk' but ultimately sounds like he has a hernia.
Granted, Seven and Phat J are not the best screamers and some may not even consider them to scream but at least they try, right? As I mentioned earlier, they both 'rap' too, now they're no Lil Wayne and certainly not Eminem..they're floating somewhere between Vanilla Ice and the nobodies of Rap.
Brokencyde consist's of the rapping, the screaming and 'singing', I say singing because it is completely auto-tuned and the supposed singer is Mikl. Now, I'm not sure whether the auto-tune is all part of their sound, image or whether it's purely because Mikl cannot hit a note. The auto-tune is bearable and at times it can be slightly enjoyed. Throughout the record vocals are edited, distorted, the pitch is altered and so on to add different effects that will probably just add to Brokencyde's display of failure. 1.5/5
Musicianship(including lyrical talent):
Brokencyde are one of the most, if not the worst at writing songs. Yes, at times their songs can be enjoyable but after a while it grates. Most of their songs consist of lyrics about having sex, being promiscious, getting all the girls, getting 'crunk', doing drugs and so on. There is no lyrical genius' here and there never has been. Antz, the member that provides the beats has improved slightly, there is a slight improvement compared to 'Not a Fan..' songs can actually be distinguished by how they sound but generally each song borrows from the one before it. The songs don't seem to have any structure, it seems like they've just been thrown together and if it sounds 'fresh' to them, they'll have it. Are Brokencyde musicians? Yes and no...they are technically musicians because they're making 'music' but whether they're talented musicians is another thing entirely. 1.5/5
Sound:
Your typical Brokencyde sound, heavy beats with the claps, with the synth, Dubstep and more crunk induced sequences than T-Pain could handle. It's nothing 'new' so to speak, more 'borrowed' but it does indeed sound like a sophomore, there is a hint of progression but at the same time regression is clearly present. For every step forward Brokencyde may ever take I'm pretty certain they'll take a step back. They try to switch things up a bit on certain songs like 'Sunshine' (another attempt of them being emotional and heartbroken, it doesn't work), 'High Timez', 'My Gurl' & 'Money Hungry Hoe' but in general they resort to the same setup, there is nothing that seperates this album from 'Not a Fan..' In any real way. Also the inclusion of unfunny, simply immature skits really does benefit Will Never Die in any way possible.
1.5/5
Overall:
Brokencyde's sophomore effort presents slight evolution, I use the term evolution because they act and sound like animals overall but they're trying to improve, they seem to want to try new things; which is good but it doesn't work. They've pidgeoned holed themselves into a senseless genre which is associated with destroying the music industry, if they were respectable musicians and if they actually cared about music they would try and improve but it just seems Seven and co are glad to be stuck in the same old rutt.
Brokencyde can be fun, they can be increasingly infuriating, amusing or the worst music you've ever come across, however you come across them and Will Never Die, please be cautious.
Will Never Die is a standard Crunkcore album, full of crunk and running on empty for talent.
Will Never Die: 1.5/5
*For attempting to change and experiment- 2/5*
