Sharptone Records – June 26, 2020
“It’s time to get dumb with the realness.” – Emmure 2020
For the last 13 years, Emmure has remained a fixture in the deathcore scene despite silly, tongue in cheek lyrics, so it is no surprise they titled their 2020 album, Hindsight. Musically, the metal stylings are a swift kick in the gonads and the sophomoric lyrics are crafted for the nut-shots-are-funny crowd.
Frontman Frankie Palmieri and the rest of Emmure do not pull any punches, immediately smashing the windows with violent vocal chords. “(F)inally (U)nderstanding (N)othing” opens the record with a contagious energy. Its immediately clear this is a record that must be listened to loudly and you will be happy to oblige.
“Trash Folder,” is just as brutal, although the focus is on the groove of the bassline. Palmieri channels the signature growl & self effacing lyrics of Korn‘s Jonathon Davis, as he slips into a one-man freestyle battle, calling himself out for shallow lyrics while defending himself as a trendsetter in the genre. He’s right on both accounts.
Self-deprecation permeates the next few tracks as Palmieri admits to himself and the audience that he is struggling with the road life on “Pigs Ear” & “Gypsy Disco.” Don’t worry about Emmure though, they aren’t defeated here. “I’ve Scene God” has gained some notoriety online, specifically for the way a distorted Palmieri name checks Stick to Your Guns, Stray From the Path and Atilla before reminding listeners and contemporaries alike “you’ll never be me, so you’ll never be God.”
On “Thunder Mouth” Emmure once again pays homage to Korn as Palmieri closes the track with a gutteral scatting reminiscent of “Freak on A Leash.” This may be the dark horse candidate for best track on Hindsight.
The album begins its closing the same way it started; loud, in your face and cheeky. Emmure have made a perfect soundtrack to fuel a short, angry and intense workout. The thirteen heavy hitting and ferocious tracks on Hindsight may not win over legions of new fans, but it is Emmure doing Emmure things and THAT will satisfy and hype up fans who have been around on the journey.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
