We’ve always enjoyed the post-hardcore band Falling In Reverse. They released their second album “Fashionably Late” and if there’s ever a recipe to alienate your fans and build up new ones in a matter of a month, then “Fashionably Late” is it. It is an album that you will love, or completely hate.

Falling In Reverse

Falling In Reverse

Falling In Reverse have always been at the forefront of the rock/metal “popular” scene. Whether for the right or the wrong reasons. One of, if not the main reasons is due to the notoriety of front-man Ronnie Radke. Spending time in Prison for missing out on parole, and then starting Falling in Reverse upon his release. Their début album in 2010 ‘The Drug In Me Is You‘ was where the music finally had a chance to do all the talking and it did really well. It peaked at number 19 on the Billboard 200, selling 18,000 copies in its first week of sales.

Putting all that aside, enter ‘Fashionably Late‘, and once again, whether unconditionally loved or completely loathed, there is anticipation as to what Falling In Reverse bring to the table.

In Fashionably late the guys experimented to the extreme with their usual post-hardcore, adding shiny auto-tuned pop, rap, choir backdrops and techno Skrillex like beats. Phew, we’ve never seen all those words in one sentence! This is indeed a weird combination and is a clash of genres unlike we’ve heard before. If you think all of this sounds like a bad idea then turn back now, because the new album “Fashionably Late” takes it and pushes it to the absolute limits.

Falling In Reverse

Falling In Reverse

The Opening track “Champion” starts as you might expect – chugging metal riffs, angry growls and a processed poppy chorus. The heavy bits with the catchy hooks are what we know Falling in Reverse to be, and quite catchy. Then, at the half way mark, the hip-hop beat enters the fold and Ronnie starts rapping. Yes, he starts rapping! But before you can say “career change” there’s a deathcore tempo drop and another serving of pop chorus to deal with. It’s all rather disorienting, and the album continues in this fashion, throwing seemingly random styles together at will. “Rolling Stone” takes in Slipknot riffs, choir pads and a Skrillex-esque dubstep drop, “Self-Destruct Personality” combines auto-tuned rap with harmonized guitar leads and “Drifter” trades sugary synths for snare brushes and steel-string guitar, ending the album with a rousing country sing-along.

Amongst all this chaos and confusion there are short yet distinct moments where we felt, “this actually works!” Whether its a rap skit that follows a guitar solo, or a death-core scream that is followed by a choir singing. It’s almost like the first time we heard Metallica’s S&M with a full blown orchestra in the background. Could these guys be onto something here?

 

Track Listing:

01. Champion
02. Bad Girls Club
03. Rolling Stone
04. Fashionably Late
05. Alone
06. Born To Lead
07. It’s Over When It’s Over
08. Game Over
09. Self-Destruct Personality
10. Fuck The Rest
11. Keep Holding On
12. Drifter

Download the Album here:

iTunesBuyNow

 

Conclusion

With “Fashionably Late” Falling in Reverse takes a very daring move into multiple musical genres and mash it all together in one album, and for that alone they can be applauded. We can appreciate the experimentation and flirting with new styles, trying new instruments, exploring new musical ideas and pathways, these are endeavours that further the art and must be welcomed. Who knows it may become a new genre in the future? Yet the album leaves a sour taste in the mouth. The result in this case is an arrogant, incoherent, blathering mess with genre fusion that doesn’t work, not counting the odd moment in the 1 or 2 songs on the entire album. It’s like mixing oil with water, except the water’s been poisoned and the oil’s been drifting ashore after fuelling a chemical war machine that just exploded. It’s a complete mess.

 

[kkstarratings]