Shrapnel - In Gravity (2024)^{Release ID: 54120}

Not as bad as reviews on other websites might suggest. Shrapnel are a U.K. thrash band who have decided to go more mainstream with their fourth studio album, In Gravity. For starters, this is a huge departure for the band since it contains next to nothing in true thrash texture. This is much closer to mid 200s metalcore/post-grunge than anything in the bands previous discography. As someone who was not aware of Shrapnel before In Gravity, this actually doesn't bother me since I can view this album from a neutral position. Perhaps the album gets a bad reputation by putting two of its slowest songs, "In Gravity" and "Amber Screams" right at the top. The record does include some faster grooves and has some pretty solid ones too, such as "Breaker" and "Follow The Cold", but those seem to be the outliers in an album that is much more subdued than previous efforts.  The vocals sounds like a cross between Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy and Machine Head's Rob Flynn. And the instrumentals can be fun at times; as mentioned previously, some of the grooves are quite solid on the album, but they are at their best when they break away from the standard thrash or even nostalgic metalcore mold.

All that being said, this album fumbles the songwriting hard. As a former thrash band, I cannot say that I'm surprised. Some of the tracks on this record are painfully put together and have no real sense of direction. Even though I do like "Breaker", something about the final chorus feels off; almost like its missing a buildup to the chorus instead of just jumping right into it out of the bridge. Same can be said for "Guardian". "So Below" is arguably the worst culprit of disastrous songwriting, where the verse and chorus riffs do not coalesce together at all. They feel like two different songs that have been sheepishly thrown together in an attempt to save time, or to simply save the riffs from becoming forgotten B-sides. While I do appreciate the change in direction for Shrapnel on In Gravity, they lost their sense of identity, and showed the listener just how forgiving we (as listeners) are towards poor songwriting when the riffs are ferocious.

Best Songs: Breaker, Follow The Cold, Absolution