Thousand Foot Krutch’s Exhale (2016), a companion record to 2014’s Oxygen: Inhale, is a good sounding record: it fits the intended mold – radio-friendly hard rock with an encouraging message. The song structures are what you would expect from this band, but what was stand- out was the gritty, dark, down-tuned guitars tinted with some good ole’ Southern twang. Certainly there were some metallic moments in the chugging of the guitars but what makes the record shine is the production, courtesy Aaron Sprinkle.
The sound, and the spacing of all the tracks was clean and accessible. All the layers are easily heard and they stay that way. Perhaps the ear dulls a little after the record gets going, for sometimes in excellent production values some other values are dispensed, such as musical variety and complexity. Every song was predictable in its flow and structure (which clearly is what they are going for!), but one looking for juicy details to dig into and re-listen to – as to find depth and meaning – perhaps will not find such things on this album.
All being said, the lyrics and vocals are clear and full of the expected radio-friendly hip phraseology, including a little of the band’s trademark nu-metal/hip-hop elements (which were super cool!) including really well done and exciting bridges leading in the choruses, and although I wasn’t able to remember the melodies from the choruses, they were powerful and easy to access, but once again, lacking in interesting material to my ears. In general, Thousand Foot Krutch has put out a solid, well produced album, but perhaps a little musically uninteresting and lacking a little in fullness of the sound – it’s a little bare at times. Check it out!
Rating: 7.5/10
Reviewed by Aleks Tengesdal
Tracklist:
1. Running with Giants
2. Incomplete
3. Give Up the Ghost
4. A Different Kind of Dynamite
5. The River
6. Push
7. Off the Rails
8. Adrenaline
9. Lifeline
10. Can’t Stop This
11. Born Again
12. Honest
Band members:
Trevor McNevan – vocals, guitar
Joel Bruyere – bass guitar, backing vocals
Steve Augustine – drums
Record Label: TFK Music/The Fuel Music, June. 2016
Discography:
“That’s what people do” (1997)
“Set it Off” (2001)
“Phenomenon” (2003)
“The Art of Breaking” (2005)
“The Flame in All of Us” (2007)
“Welcome to the Masquerade” (2009)
“The End is Where We Begin” (2012) [review]
“Oxygen: Inhale” (2014) [review]
“Exhale” (2016)
Weblinks: Website / Facebook / Twitter / iTunes
Video below: ‘Running With Giants’
Lyric video: ‘Lifeline’
Video below: ‘Push’