Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Sum 41 - 13 Voices (2016)
Sum 41... One of the more popular punk bands... In Metal Academy?!? Who would've thought that was coming?! Well they have announced their intentions in spicing up their punk sound in metal, and 13 Voices has it all clear! Their upcoming final album Heaven :x: Hell will balance out their sides of the sound with their pop punk Heaven and metal Hell. The band will retire after a final tour, which almost didn't happen when frontman Deryck Whibley suffered from COVID-related heart failure and subsequently recovered.
Whibley is no stranger to almost reaching Death's door. While in the pre-production stage for this album, he nearly lost his life to liver and kidney failure caused by excessive drinking, ending up in a coma. That really caused his ability to walk and play guitar to take a toll, but he slowly regained those abilities. It was a fall and rise documented in 13 Voices, a comeback album of bleak intensity. If people thought 2004's Chuck was the heaviest the band has gone, the full power of 13 Voices is here to prove them wrong. Whibley, guitarists Dave Baksh and Tom Thacker, bassist Jason McCaslin, and drummer Frank Zummo shall take you on a rollercoaster ride of punk gone alt-metal!
Beginning this offering is the grim "A Murder of Crows", with slow dark punk similar to AFI. The political cynicism fits well for the bleakness of our world. Desperate anger sears through the fantastic "G****mn I'm Dead Again". I saw the music video for this on MTV and it adds to the killer power of the song. My own scenario for this would be an epic battle between punks and metalheads in a mosh pit as the band performs, especially during a whole minute of Bullet for My Valentine gone DragonForce guitar soloing. And there's more of their metal side to come... "Fake My Own Death" has more of the blazing heaviness mixed with beautiful emotion. Other new elements here include symphonic strings in "Breaking the Chain", another true anthem. Fans of the band's earlier punk sound can get a kick out of "There Will Be Blood".
The title track also stands out for fans of their earlier work, albeit their heavier side in Chuck. Yearning for emotion is "War", reaching for anthemic heights as Whibley details his sober fight for his life, and encouraging others having a similar problem to know they're not alone. Next up, "God Save Us All (Death to POP)" adds more atmosphere. Same with "The Fall and the Rise", which you know is about if you know the life-threatening sh*t Whibley went through. "Twisted by Design" is the band's longest song and their only one to surpass 5 minutes. The blend of punk and emotion is something already experienced in Linkin Park's The Hunting Party. Beautiful!
The deluxe edition comes with a few bonus tracks, starting with the short "Better Days". Then "Black Eyes" makes up for some of the losses in the album's quality. I never said the album is perfect, despite having many great tracks, but those two tracks could've actually made it better because of how great they are. Of course, I wouldn't say the same for the acoustic versions of "War" and "Breaking the Chain", which are OK but don't have the anthemic magic of the originals.
It seems like the band can really mix gloom, fun, and chaos in their metal-punk arsenal in 13 Voices. Whibley's battle to save his life has resulted in this album hitting hard with a lot of the drama and sincerity there is to offer....
Favorites: "G****mn I'm Dead Again", "Breaking the Chain", "13 Voices", "War", "Twisted by Design", "Better Days", "Black Eyes"