ALBUM REVIEW: Love Will Fix It – Emil Bulls
German alt-metal outfit EMIL BULLS are back with their latest album Love Will Fix It. Renowned for their take on rock and metal, the band have described this album as a journey of musical exploration, blending new sounds and styles to continuously captivate their audience. It’s an ambitious notion, and one they do succeed at, with songs that are as nostalgic as they are in keeping with the modern rock scene.
Opening with Backstabbers, listeners are greeted with deep guitar before the full band kicks off with thrashing and riffs which juxtapose slightly with the clean vocals which come in with an intriguing sound effect. Then we get to the chorus where those vocals transform into the deep guttural variety, which is again nicely juxtaposed with a melodic production.
EMIL BULLS seem to have it nailed when it comes to beautifully blending the more polished side of the music spectrum with the ‘dirtier’ side of things, the side that focuses on gnarly riffs, aggressive vocals and songs that have you ready to headbang. Perfect examples of this include, but are not limited to, Happy Birthday You Are Dead To Me which is a solid nu-metal track that feels instantly reminiscent of icons like SLIPKNOT that then brings in influence from the current metalcore scene with the use of electronic rock and voice effects; Whirlwind Of Doom that feels like an 80s metal track reimagined for the modern era, complete with insane guitar riffs; and She Ain’t Coming Home No More that can only be described as a bouncy metal song that feels familiar but hard to place, until you think back to earlier comparisons alongside current names like SPIRITBOX and BEARTOOTH.
However, there are also moments that pull you out and leave you slightly confused with what can only really be described as blatant cheesiness. For example, The Devil Made Me Do It gives off the impression that we’re in for a fast and bouncy metal song that you could easily imagine yourself moshing along to, but then you’re thrown off by the chorus. The first issue is that it’s a bit clunky, but the main issue is the lyrics, more specifically the line, “He gave me the candy bars” to describe being tempted to do bad. In context, you understand what they’re trying to say but it comes across as juvenile, and you wonder if there was maybe a better metaphor to use.
Yet these small moments are easily forgiven because of the quality of the rest of the album. Apart from a few cheesy hiccups, Love Will Fix It offers an experience that explores both the rough and polished sides of metal, with plenty of guitar riffs and guttural screams to enjoy.
Rating: 7/10
Love Will Fix It is out now via Arising Empire.
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