Platinum rock band, Staind, has been back in the studio and is releasing their first album in 12 years, Confession of the Fallen on September 22. Guitarist Mike Mushok says of the newest album “you can certainly recognize the band, but at the same time, you can hear that we’ve been paying attention and understand what kind of sounds and approaches we can use that maybe weren’t around last time we did this.” It seems nowadays bands get flack whether they evolve or stay the same. With this album, Staind has figured out the perfect balance of evolution while maintaining their signature style.
“Lowest in Me” was released early this year and reached #1 at Active Rock opens the album strong showing fans they haven’t missed a beat and the rest of the album fucking slays!
“In This Condition” has been my favorite track of the album so far. It brings the heavy rhythm with the hard drums and growling rhythmic guitar, giving the whole song and intense energy. They’ve perfectly slowed down the song for a beat for Aaron to use those softer, more intimate vocals to drive home the chorus “is there something more for me? I know there’s better out there, making it more like a dream, less like a nightmare.” The verses sing of chaos and confusion, but the chorus stands out encouraging the listener that there’s better out there, so musically and lyrically this song resonated hard with me.
“Here and Now” is the album’s slower song that still rocks hard. This song is a little ambiguous with its message, but I love that! In the chorus, Aaron sings of broken memories flooding back, “they all seem to lead me back to you.” Throughout the rest of the song, I can see how the subject has made mistakes and the person they’re singing about has been there through the mistakes, giving hope. I also get the message of losing that person through mistakes made and all memories go back to the one they lost. Either way, I like that it leaves an open-ended story and gives so much for the listener to fill in the blanks and relate to more personally.
Title track, “Confession of the Fallen” closes out the album. It opens up almost eerily with a low, repetitive rhythm, then everything ramps up over the chorus, and we hear Aaron’s growl through the song. The lyrics give the perfect visuals of “the fallen” talking about now this person has devils on both shoulder, losing that angel that our conscious wrestles with, then personifies the shadows and darkness with this dark, fallen persona. When keeping these lyrics in mind and studying the album art, visuals from the cinematic masterpiece “The Mummy” come to mind. The album cover shows a dirt floor and several adobe doorways into a dark place. It looks like the pyramids and when becoming the darkness and the shadow, I imagine the opening scenes where every everyone is swallowed in darkness.
The album releases widely September 22 and can be pre-ordered and pre-saved on all major outlets. They’re also released a limited orange-pressed vinyl. You can pre-order and pre-save on their website, staind.lnk.to/COTF.
Track List
- Lowest in Mew
- Was Any Of It Real?
- In This Condition
- Here And Now
- Out Of Time
- Cycle Of hurting
- The Fray
- Better Days
- Hate Me Too
- Confessions Of The Fallen
