Album Review: Incubus 8 Is Metal Rock Therapy
In honor and celebration of their 20 years signed with a major label, and releasing their eighth studio album, titled 8, Incubus is gearing away from their lighter tones. In 8, Incubus goes for a harsher, metallic sound proving that, even in your eighth album, you do not stop exploring your creativity. Still, they never gear too far away from feeling like life is repairable.
Incubus – Nimble Bastard
One of the reasons Incubus, has been a difficult band to assign in terms of genre and definition is because they are a sonically and spiritually contrasting, of which 8 is an example of that. “Throw Out The Map” and “Undefeated” have a heavier, raging tone that does well to embody the inner anarchism that heavy metal is about, but is countered by Brandon Boyd’s calm, exploratory tone. Boyd’s vocals always appear spiritually resounding and hopeful; no matter what. Hence, songs such as “Familiar Faces” and “No Fun” have a “beachier” vibe that encompasses Boyd’s more lax, pensive voice. These songs still have a bashing aura of metal rock, but it is enlightened to hit sunnier guitar chords and brighter drumbeats. Incubus’ 8 does builds a slight bridge such as in in “Make No Sound In The Digital Forrest” and “ Glitterbomb” to incorporate synths that digitize their sound and also give a sense breathe to heavy metal that some might like and others not so.
Incubus – State Of The Art (Lyric Video)
The clash within 8’s reception is whether you like your “heavy metal” to be with a side devastation or a side resilience. Do you just want to focus on the rage, or having an underlying hope that the rage will subside and release will come? What I love about heavy metal is that, as a genre, it goes straight for the ugliness of being human. So often, even I, have marveled this genre as loud, chaotic, and mind-blazingly noisy in words and vocals. Yet, while some use these terms to degrade heavy metal, it is the reason it persistently shines as cult/ music force. It does not try to make the ugliness of humanity, beautiful or even think of it as a starting platform for better. It is purely cathartic, while Incubus has therapeutic nature to their music that I welcome, but pure “heavy metallers” might not like it around their genre. For More Information On Incubus and To Buy 8 Click Here.
Incubus – Undefeated (Lyric Video)
