For some time now, Rise and Fall have been wowing fans from all over with their self branded mix of “Punkmetal” and Hardcore music. “Punkmetal” if you were wondering, is essentially riffs played with the speed and attitude of punk, but with the distortion and technicality to make it metal. And this, R&F’s second album, embodies that perfectly.
The great thing about this album is that it is absolutely fantastic at “what it does”. In this case, it’s really not all that challenging of a record – essentially all you need if a desire to rock out - but the riffs that going in here are still far beyond the simple, clichéd “three chord” structure. Phenomenal opener ‘Forked Tongues’ for instance, on the face of it, seems like quite a simple song with it’s feedback opening and then procedure into a fast punk song, but when you give it a few more listens, you notice that this is not run of the mill hardcore music, it’s just energetic, passionate ‘heavy’ music which pays massive homage to the original punk music from the early 80’s.
What is also strangely refreshing is R&F’s use of guitar solos, something that has been pretty much completely exempt from most heavy music as of late. ‘The Void’ for instance is a perfect example of all the influences Rise and Fall have brought together here for this very enjoyable listen, as the guitars mostly just solo here and the distorted bass acts as a rhythm guitar. Luckily too, the use of solo’s make the album in danger of becoming repetitive, but R&F get the combination just right to keep the listener entertained and interested, and is quite simply a solid, satisfying record from the Belgian quartet.
