ALBUM REVIEW: From Zero – Linkin Park
After the untimely passing of Chester Bennington back in 2017, the notion of a new LINKIN PARK album sounded surreal, fans made their peace with it and had to move on. Fast forward to September 5th, 2024 and the band announced their return. Enter Emily Armstrong, whilst mired in controversy at the time, she was given the almost impossible task of filling Bennington’s shoes as one of two frontmen of the iconic band. Following this, the band also announced a brand new album, From Zero. Whilst many felt this would tarnish the band and Bennington’s legacy, it acts as more of a reset than a new chapter. At times From Zero is an excellent return to form for LINKIN PARK following their last album that ended with more a whimper than a bang. However amongst all the great moments are a couple of songs that don’t quite fit which dumb down the impressiveness of the newer and greater tracks at times.
Opening the record is the phenomenal The Emptiness Machine which launched the new era of the band, and deservedly became the biggest rock song of 2024 which subsequently peaked at No. 4 in the UK singles chart, sure to become a set staple. Armstrong’s fantastic vocal prowess proved she’s more than up to the challenge that gives the aggression and snarl to counteract Shinoda’s classic style of rapping. Following on from this is Cut The Bridge which almost derails the momentum brought on from The Emptiness Machine, is an underwhelming track that does very little with, it just feels like it was added on to the album to give it a run time of longer than half an hour.
Counteracting this though is another heavyweight in Heavy Is The Crown which harkens back to the days of old with a similar feeling to Faint. Shinoda is on top form on this track and once again lets Armstrong to flex her muscles and even perform a scream that Bennington would be proud of, matching his from Given Up in terms of length (17 seconds) that will give you goosebumps as soon as you hear it. Over Each Other brings the tempo down a little on the album with a moment that is built for the likes of arenas and stadium shows. It has that classic poignant and anthemic feel that we have come to love about LINKIN PARK over the years. This time, the band swap the enormous sounding guitars for a more pop style of music that will have lighters (or more likely phone torches) in the air when performed live. You can feel every word that Armstrong is singing as it’s clear she’s making every moment of her new role in the band count.
Casualty follows up afterward with a confusing offering that is almost great but doesn’t quite hit its mark. A fantastic metalcore-esque guitar riff and growling vocals are counteracted with poor sounding drums and Shinoda’s attempts at growling which takes away the momentum of the song, it would have been much better if Armstrong had been left to her own devices, as its clear that’s where the vocal talents lie. Still though, mosh pits are bound for when this song is performed live. Like Casualty before it, Overflow continues the dip in form on the record and gives From Zero an almost flabby feel to it. Two Faced brings the album’s quality back to up with an excellent riff not too dissimilar from One Step Closer and huge anthemic chorus to boot. From Zero then goes from heavy to a great hip hop sounding beat with the track Stained. The sumptuous drum beat perfectly compliments Shinoda who once again effortlessly spits out great verses that work perfectly alongside Armstrong.
As we reach the back end of the album, we arrive at IGYEIH which, after all of the singles from this album, is easily one of the best tracks, harkening back to the LINKIN PARK of old with a sound that they’ve so masterfully crafted as their own over the years. The final track of the album, Good Things Go opts against the bombast that has appeared throughout From Zero and go for a more contemplative ending for the album which gives both Shinoda and Armstrong one final moment to combine both their voices to create a great and almost moving ending to the record which ends on a high.
From Zero is indeed a return to form for LINKIN PARK. You can say it’s arguably their best album since Minutes To Midnight and you cannot deny that there are some absolute bangers on here that will fit right into their discography because when it hits, it absolutely hits it out of the park. Unfortunately, you also can’t help but feel this album does run out of momentum around the halfway point with it being a very top heavy album. From Zero’s greatest strength is indeed Emily Armstrong who proves that she is more than capable of fronting LINKIN PARK; she fits in absolutely perfectly and is going to be the spearhead that ushers in a brand new dawn in the years to come.
Rating: 7/10
From Zero is out now via Warner Records/Machine Shop.
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