Some albums are so much easier to review than others, and for me the latest release from Evanescence was a harder album to just get down and review. It is not that “The Bitter Truth” is a bad album, it’s actually got a lot of things going for it, but it did take some time for me to get into it and unpack my thoughts about it. Evanescence has done well for themselves, and respect to them for their impact and influence they have had in the modern day music culture. Sure it’s been 10 years since they released an album, so one got to go into it knowing that things could be different, whether musically or lyrically, a lot can happen in 10 years that can influence and reposition a band. To think in 2003, their album, “Fallen” catapulted them into being one of the biggest bands of their time from America, thrusting them into super stardom, and here we are 18 years later. But remember this is not the first time Evanescence has had a major gap between albums. There was a five-year gap between Evanescence 2011’s self-titled third album and 2006’s The Open Door album, and even then the two albums showed some definitive changes and repositioning, so going into this review my expectation, and thinking was already in that headspace. So I leaned into the album with slight trepidation not knowing how I will need to approach this as a reviewer.
For me in a way through the soul of this album I can see for Amie Lee the personal struggles, and things she has gone through, had to deal with, and in some way now able reflect that back in a more balanced space, like the 10 year break was good for settling a few things possibly, and repositioning into a new headspace. Sometimes we just got to swallow the bitter pill where we at in life and move forward with hope things will get better and clearer as we progress and unpack the horizon before us. There is a definitive switching of cogs that has seemed to have taken place, and the album has a much lighter and brighter feel to it. It has a deliberate and well kneaded feel to it, a lot of thought process has gone into the release to give it the sound and texture it translates. Amy Lee’s voice for me also sounds allot more relaxed, compared to the previous release, it comes across with a greater sense of heart if you will, and a lot more sincere passion. It’s not like she is finished dealing with stuff, or wholeheartedly moved on, but you do get a sense that through reflection she is repositioning herself. “Far From Heaven” is a good example of that. It is possible one of the more hauntingly emotional songs and her voice on the song almost nakedly displays a strong emotional drive as she is dealing with things like her faith.