Yeah, yeah, we know what you’re thinking: “what sort of crazy ideas have those crabcore pioneers ATTACK ATTACK! been putting together now?”. The answer – erm, well, less cheese, more straight up metalcore (for the most part), and ‘This Means War’ sees the band attempt a more “mature” sound.
As it goes, “mature” means “less of a complete joke” in this instance – ‘This Means War’ starts strong, and for the first few songs the band produce bursts of material that make you almost forget past hair-raising efforts. As the ten tracks proceed though, it does all end up a little samey and it may have been better suited to 7/8 tracks than 10.
All things considered, it’s fair to say that the band have put plenty of effort into dumping the gimmicks and refining their original sound, and though the synchronised running-on-the-spot / lunges are still absolutely ridiculous and their live show leaves much to be desired, ‘This Means War’ is 100x more listenable than the band have ever been. Though you may not come back for multiple listens, you might just find yourself pleasantly surprised.
TOM AYLOTT