Faith or Fear - Titanium (2012)^{Release ID: 33769}

On Sunday 13th September 2009, Faith or Fear's basist Clarence "C.J." Jenkins died on stage after suffering heart failure during one of the band's performances.  The fact that the band were still able to perform or put together anything at all just some three years after the tragedy speaks volumes for their dedication after losing a valued bandmate and friend.  Although this is by no means a glittering review of Titanium, I am of course mindful of this fact.  I have also not heard any other release by Faith or Fear (they have only one other album in a very stop/start career that dates all the way back to 1982)to compare this album with.  My research for The Pit playlist each month takes me to all corners of the associated sub-genres, often taking me out of my comfort zone and Titanium certainly has managed to do that.

There are two main problems for me with this record.  Firstly, Tim Blackman is not a very strong (or talented) vocalist.  His gruff yet unconvincing style fails to hide his shortfalls in trying to front a thrash/groove metal band and when coupled with the frankly childish lyrics they become even less tolerable.  Secondly, Faith or Fear show a distinct lack of songwriting capability on Titanium, regurgitating the same ideas over and over whilst not allowing enough room for the real strengths to shine.  The stop/start rhythm (to match their career) to many songs soon becomes irritating and the fact is that when they abandon the vocals and go into ful flow they can pull off some impressive riffage and hint at some real power in the engine department.  There is also evidence of some decent lead work here and there.

Again, I could understand the sub-par record off the back of the tragedy of C.J.'s death (in fact the bassist who played on this record, Rob Guidotti also passed away in 2022 it is sad to read).  Sadly though, even the closing track that pays homage to their lost comrade does little to dispell any of my disatisfaction with this album.