|
| |
|
|
|
Review Summary: WERE THEY TIRED OF WINNING? Nothing More are are pretty divisive band, to say the least. They walk this fine line between the radio rock domain yet have always tried to bring in something that at least feels more nuanced. The lyrics feel like an ordinary joe writing rhymes, yet sometimes try to jump into tasteful/non-trivial metaphors and clever social critique. The recurring speeches of Alan Watts throughout their last 4 albums can't make their desire for the profound any more obvious. And I have to say that while they're not the most consistent, their attempts have yielded results, especially in Spirits which was their most complete album musically, in my opinion. Now this...
Oh boy, Carnal was not it. And I don't simply mean that I was disappointed since it doesn't top Spirits. This is most probably their weakest album to date, pains me to say. I think my thoughts when this album ended summarize a lot of my criticisms: "this was... Nice." Carnal is blatantly "nice" radio rock. The production is super "nice". Everything is neatly separated in the spectrum and full sounding while the vocals sound squeaky clean, while the screams in most of the songs don't have as much presence. Nothing to challenge your ears really, in fact the vocals almost overpower the instrumental whenever the come in.
Which brings me to the second problem: not hearing the instrumental is almost good at times. The main riff in ANGEL SONG is literally one note repeated in the same rhythmical pattern for half the songs duration. Suffice it to say, the interesting ideas in this album are few and far between, as the band attempts to bridge the awkward blanks in their music with every pop stereotype vocalization: from the "aaahs" and weird breathing/clapping samples in "IF IT DOESN'T HURT", or the cringy "oooooh-HEY" gang vocals in ANGEL SONG, to the weird chorus hook in EXISTENTIAL DREAD which occurs only on the vocalization of "E". What they indeed experiment with are some flings of electronic music in the aforementioned song's verses, as well as RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, which at that point is almost refreshing, and an interesting attempt. I've always been fond of them mixing their influences up.
The lyrics haven seen a slight decline as well, with Jonny's admittedly still amazing vocal delivery not able to compensate for how much cheesy and macho guy attitude this album is flooded with. Their once sometimes self reflective attitude is now diminished to a holier than thou attitude of songs like STUCK ("You don't walk in my shoes/cause it would break you/shut your mouth/Know your place"), or ANGEL SONG ("They try to own us or control is so we don't get in the way/But we get in the way"), and generic pep talk about facing struggles. On the brighter side, bringing Jonny's personal struggles into context, the songs concerning his past relationship and dealing with manipulation, like IF IT DOESN'T HURT feel really sincere and out in the open.
But what really frustrates me about this album is its potential that is displayed in the most teasingly sparse way possible. The album starts really strong with the intense duo of CARNAL/HOUSE ON SAND, but once the singles are over it the momentum gives way to a whole lot of nothingness, until STUCK which is once again an energetic mid paced percussive rocker. Once again the expectations built by its nice main riff and energetic vocals are killed by Sinizter's featured performance, who sounds like a dying frog. And finally RUN FOR YOUR LIFE closes the album with one of the most complete, catchy and intense songs in this nearly 50 minute ride, and a pretty quirky dubstep-y (?) outro, which really has me scratching my head as to why the rest of this album exists for a band that still seems partially ambitious.
All in all, this album is flooded with music thay doesn't leave an impression, and is only pulled down by their attempts to throw in some unusual guests to the mix. I appreciate the competent performances and emotional peaks of this album, yet I wonder, "were they tired of winning?"
|
Album Rating: 2.5
Really sad to write all this, I've been a big fan of the band. I don't write reviews often, so feel free to give feedback on the styling. Cheers!
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
Pretty cringe lyrics on this album so far. Honestly their last good album was their self titled.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
I thought so too for a long time, but I've come to the conclusion that self titled probably has way more filler than the other albums. But it most probably has the highest peaks. Still love Spirits though, what was your take on that?
| | |
I haven't had the chance to listen yet but now I'm concerned. Speaking as someone who has really liked the output since the self-titled.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Idk, I can't say it won't be worth it for you at all. Expect it to feel weaker than the previous releases, for sure. The extent will depend on how much you're into the more standard song structure they showcase. But it has to be one of the biggest disappointments in a while for me 
| | |
I didn't care much for If It Doesn't Hurt but I'm surprised that the rest of this apparently isn't very good either. Nothing More was not a band I expected to fall off like this
| | |
Ah man, this stings to see. I was skeptical when they announced a follow up so soon after SPIRITS (which I really enjoyed), and even moreso when they announced that David fucking Draiman would be featuring on a track. Those 2 things told me everything about the type of album they were going for with this, and it seems my skepticism was well founded. Honestly not even sure I wanna listen to this.
| | |
band's always just sounded like butt rock crossed with djent
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
I like this one more than Spirits, if only marginally. The performances have been carrying the lackluster songwriting on these last two, and some of the creative choices on here are pretty cringey. The Alan Watts interludes are past tired. Still, I think there’s a little more thought put into this than with Spirits; I don’t picture a return to form happening at this point.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
@heck I think that's reductive. They do have an affinity for being catchy and downtuned, doesn't make them any less substantial. SPIRITS is a great song, Christ Copyright is another good example. But idk, that's just me
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Also I never listened to Angel Song until the album dropped with the exception of when they played it live before the single had dropped; I don’t remember the song’s impression on me at the time, but holy hell this song is so bad haha. I didn’t think they would ever put out a worse song than Turn It Up Like, but they did. And David Draiman would appear on such a goofy song.
House on Sand, Stuck, and Run for Your Life are good tracks, If it Doesn’t Hurt is decent. Freefall and Give it Time aren’t bad songs but they’re also just generic Octanecore ballads. Blame it on the Drugs and Existential Drugs are okay but their choruses suck. Angel Song and Down the River are just misfires. Overall the presentation of the album and the energy and performance are good quality, it feels a little more focused than Spirits, but the songs are just too uneven. It’s a shame because before Spirits came out Nothing More was one of my favorite modern rock bands.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Bit of a shame Jonny drove wasted and ran over his girlfriend after pushing her out of the car too.
| | |
It's OK album . Too many transition sections . Their self titled was fantastic , They didn't deliver another one in that level IMO
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
@JonWedge you pretty much summed up most of my thoughts on the album. But I still think Spirits is superior by far, it seems really weird to me that the consensus on that album was not that positive
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Urgh the shitty song title capitalization and dumb features is such BMTH worship. Can modern heavy bands stop doing this please
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
@Aerialist LMAO, immediately thought of this when looking at the titles. I didn't really care about it in Spirits but it's kind of cringy. Bmth always kill it with featured performances imo, tho. Carnal not so much, lol
| | |
I don't dislike this band, but their "enlightened centrist" take on social issues is extremely annoying.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
@PTRK, I don’t think Spirits is a bad album, just a mediocre one. The last few songs on it are quite good, and performance-wise it’s well done, but the lyrics on most of the songs just lacked substance and made Jonny come off as a meathead. My slight preference toward this one is simply that I found it a little less obnoxious than the previous, but they’re on the same tier for me
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
I totally get liking something that others aren’t big on too, I didn’t realize so many people didn’t think highly of TSWTO until I wrote a review for Spirits and a bunch of people in the comments said so, I like that album a lot.
| | |
The self-titled and TSWTO have some decent tracks off them for sure.
| | | |
|
| |
