Review POP EVIL ‘Skeletons’

Droning riffs, powerful energy and sometimes sugar-sweet melodies in the chorus, that is the musical direction of Pop Evil.

The beginning of Pop Evil lies in the early 00s when Leigh Kakatly and Dylan Allison founded the band. However, it took quite some time for the debut album ‘Lipstick on the Mirror’ to find its way into the record stores. This was in 2008 and it was the second studio album ‘War of Angels’ which was the breakthrough for Pop Evil.

More longplayers followed and now it’s ‘Skeletons’, the new album, that should bring Pop Evil back into everyone’s mind.

With ‘Eye of the Storm’ the band had already released a single months ago and confirmed what was to be expected. Pop Evil remain true to their sound. Modern hard rock is what the song and ‘Skeletons’ envision. Enriched with a pinch of post grunge and nu metal, Pop Evil create a melange that will be well received by the mainstream audience.

It’s hard to resist the melodies and at the same time the hard riff attacks give you a Red Bull-like energy boost. Well, probably the fashionable drink is as present at live shows as a good beer, but anyway; ‘Skeletons’ is definitely a wake-up shot where you can sing along like with ‘Sound of Glory’.

What supports the power of the album is the rich production for which Drew Fulk (Disturbed, Papa Roach, Motionless in White) was in charge.

Well, with all the positive, it must also be said that ‘Skeletons’ includes rather standard stuff as well. Even if the record is well done and the band shows its more rocking face, the generally held pattern of success is visible more than once, especially when all cliches are served with the emotional title track.

To sum up, ‘Skeletons’ is an album well worth listening to and has an electrifying effect with its energy. At the same time, however, not very much sticks because the standard formula for modern American alternative metal has been applied very clearly and makes the album more like one out of many.