Review by Dom Vigil
Death From Above seem to have it all figured out. The duo is back and better than ever with their newest release, Outrage! Is Now, and you’re going to want to blast these ten new songs at full volume. Trust me.
If it’s possible to go back to their roots while still moving forward into new musical terrain, then Death From Above have done it. Opening track, “Nomad” is the duo at their best, carrying all of the same chaos, energy and grit as You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine but with even more refined control than The Physical World. Instrumentally, this song is wild and vocally, it finds Sebastien Grainger pushing himself to the limits. One thing I urge everyone to do is to listen to this song through great speakers or at full volume in your headphones, though, because they way that the song is produced and the way the sound travels through your speakers is incredible. The delivery definitely matters, and in order to enjoy this song (and the rest of the album) to its full potential is to really immerse yourself in it.
The poppy, high energy single, “Freeze Me” follows the complex “Nomad,” giving listeners a slight break with something a little more simplistic yet still filled to the brim with that trademark Death From Above grit. Following song, “Caught Up” is a game changer. The bass tone will make your head buzz while the drums are perfectly flat and simple. It’s here that you’ll really begin to appreciate the thought and care that goes into the production of each instrument in each song. Where things feel larger than life in “Freeze Me” and “Nomad,” “Caught Up” almost sounds like you’re watching the band jam in their practice space.
Title track “Outrage! Is Now” is perfectly unconventional and weird, especially following the toned down, “Caught Up.” Song after song, Death From Above continue to push the envelope and experiment with their sound, and even the album’s title track is no exception. With each track, the duo gives you something new to chew on. You want something punchy and hard hitting? Give “Never Swim Alone” a listen. If you want to feel some MUSE vibes, then check out “Moonlight,” which finds Grainger exploring with a lower vocal range while instrumentally, they hit you with a wall of sound. On the lyrical end of things, “All I C Is U & Me,” perfectly merges political themes with what would have otherwise been a love song. This song is blunt, honest and unapologetic.
Relentless and wild, Death From Above keep the energy high from track to track, making for a very quick, yet very satisfying listen. Although it might feel overwhelming at times (especially near the middle of the album when the duo hits you with one powerful song after another) Outrage! Is Now is easily Death From Above’s most diverse and ambitious release yet. Songs like “Nomad,” “Caught Up” and gritty final track, “Holy Books” are sure to please fans of their older material while “Moonlight” and “Outrage! Is Now” find Sebastien Grainger and Jesse F. Keeler exploring new terrain. With Outrage! Is Now, Death From Above are able to expand on their sound without losing that spark that made them stand out to begin with.
LISTEN TO: “Nomad” or “Caught Up”
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