The End Is Where We Begin

Okay. The last in my sizable backlog of awesome music that's come out lately is Thousand Foot Krutch's new album, The End Is Where We Begin.

The End Is Where We Begin is notably TFK's first independently released album after nine years with Tooth and Nail records. With its influence on their music gone, this album is at once  a continuation of their sound on the last few albums and a return to their rap-metal roots.

First, much of the album will be quite familiar to those who enjoyed The Flame In all of Us and Welcome to the Masquerade. Lead single bait "We Are" is a fist-pumping anthem in the vein of "Fire It Up" with motivational lyrics like "We are the ones/We are the guns/And we will roll". The title track "The End Is Where We Begin" is more of a balance between power and melody similar to the previous two title tracks, "Welcome to the Masquerade" and "The Flame In All Of Us", with some heavy-yet-accessible guitar hooks and an exceedingly catchy chorus. "War of Change" has the same kind of explosive energy as "E for Extinction", with a legitimately epic wall-of-sound chorus.

This album continues TFK's move towards more loud and energetic songs (especially with the return of their rap metal influences, which I'll get to in a moment), but there are several quieter, more personal songs--"Be Somebody" has more thoughtful lyrics and the chorus line bursts with a sense of longing. "All I Need to Know" and "So Far Gone" are both quiet devotional-type tracks descended from "Watching Over Me", "Already Home", or "My Home". "Fly on the Wall" is one of the more interesting songs that I can't directly compare to previous albums, starting with quiet, almost-whispered vocals and a melody played by strings, but almost turns into a rock ballad in the choruses.

And secondly, this album is a big return to TFK's rap metal style that they'd all but abandoned by Welcome to the Masquerade, possibly at Tooth and Nail's request, for a more polished and commercial sound. "Light Up the Sky", "Down", and "I Get Wicked" both have entirely rapped verses, the latter with mystifying or just plain hilarious lines like "Stock to cons, 'cause the devil wears prada" or "P.S., Don't play me like a 3DS". Ditto on "War of Change" with "'Cause I got 10 in my pocket that'll bend ya' locket" and "The End is Where We Begin", whose "Hear me running" bridge is probably the lamest moment of the album.

So the title of The End Is Where We Begin ends up being a little too accurate. It continues TFK's well-practiced formula of calculated guitar crunches and ridiculously catchy chorus lines, but enjoyable as it is, it doesn't really blaze any new ground for the band. Instead it really seems like more of a step backwards to their rap metal origins. Maybe there are some hardcore fans who are delighted by this move, but I am not. Stylistically, this album would have fit in much better ten years ago (and not in the classic, timeless way of power metal).

The lyrics, while well-delivered as usual, continue and intensify the split between vaguely motivational fist-pumping with nothing behind it and confessions to God. With some of the rap songs, I don't even know. ("I Get Wicked" just seems to be about anger issues, and "War of Change"...it's cool, but I just have no idea) The main exception is again "Fly on the Wall", probably the most thoughtful and thought-provoking song of the album, with lines like "I'm on the run from a thief I let into my head" or "We were making the bullets to a broken gun".

I'm getting a bit more negative on this review than I'd expected. This is a good album, but it could have been much better. Its biggest issue is that it almost completely fails to innovate on TFK's previous sound(s) and lyrical themes. Despite/because of this, it's still quite a good time with some distinct high points and worth a look if you liked The Flame in All of Us or Welcome to the Masquerade.