Rock act Skillet released its with its latest record, After The Storm, this past weekend. The six-song EP is the band’s fifth EP behind 2017’s Feel Invincible Remix. Running approximately 21-minutes, the record is a successful new offering from the band. That is proven in no small part through its featured musical body. The record’s lyrical body adds to the appeal without question, as does its production. Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of the record. All things considered they make After The Storm easily one of this year’s top new EPs. On a side note, it is sad that few if any critics and outlets out there present an annual year-ender for these small records with often a lot to offer.
After The Storm, the latest studio offering from hard rock act Skillet, is a strong new offering from the band. The record’s appeal comes in no small part through its featured musical arrangements. From the beginning to the end of this 21-minute record, established audiences will agree there is plenty of familiar melodic hard rock within each of the record’s six tracks. At the same time, there is also quite a bit of heavier material throughout, such as in the intense, ‘Grav Stomper.’ The sharp, cutting riffs in the choruses, and the guttural, almost death metal style screams of the title make for a wholly unique identity for the song, separate from the rest of the band’s works and even those featured herein. It really presents Skillet moving in a whole new and welcome direction here.
‘Scream,’ the EP’s opener, is another example of the growth and change exhibited in the record’s musical body. The nearly three-and-a-half-minute composition immediately makes itself comparable to early works from Linkin Park (believe it nor not). That is due to the use of the keyboards alongside front man John Cooper’s vocal delivery. Especially in the song’s chorus, it sounds like one of the songs featured in Linkin Park’s debut 2000 album, Hybrid Theory. At the same time, the composition still maintains the band’s own melodic rock touch at points. The blend of that familiar and new makes it another clear example of how much the EP has to offer in its musical body.
On yet another note, ‘Come and Find Me,’ blends the band’s more familiar melodic hard rock leanings with heavier elements to make yet another interesting addition to the record. The song opens with a powerful, heavy riff before having that riff take a more supporting role throughout the majority of the song against that more familiar melodic rock lean. Audiences do get more of that heaviness that opened the song in its bridge, which is sure to impress plenty of listeners. The balance of those two approaches and sounds is sure to make for just as much appeal among audiences as the presentations in the other examined songs and the remaining trio of arrangements. The whole therein makes the EP’s musical body reason enough to take in this record.
Adding to the EP’s appeal is its lyrical body. The lyrical body here seems to follow a central theme, that being making one’s way through life’s more emotionally difficult moments. Cooper even discussed this in an interview promoting the EP. He said of that overarching theme, “I wrote these songs because I needed to be lifted out of my darkness.” This is a matter that is certain to resonate with plenty of listeners. Each of the songs center on that very matter in one way or another. Adding in the background on the songs, and that overarching theme becomes even more resonant. Case in point is the lyrical presentation of the EP’s title track. The story behind this song allegedly centers on a story involving a church that Cooper and his family had attended for three decades. As the story goes, there was some sense of conflict at one point, leading to plenty of tension and feelings of hurt. This is a topic that is central in regard to why so many people (this critic included) have left the church. This has happened to so many people out there; people claiming to be Christian turning out to be anything but. Keeping that in mind, it will certainly make this song resonate with plenty of audiences.
‘Come Find Me,’ by connection, centers on the matter of struggling with the need to ask for help after being hurt one way or another. Everyone has been in that dark place and wanted to ask for help but has struggled due to the stigma attached to doing just that. It is certainly a starting point for a much-needed discussion about mental health while also certainly serving as a means of strength for audiences in its own right.
‘Scream’ is tied into that central theme, as it finds its subject feeling overwhelmed by all of the negativity that has impacted him. Everyone knows that feeling of in fact wanting to scream and let it all out. This song will let audiences know they are not alone in that feeling and in turn help them to heal in their own way. It is yet more proof of the value of hard rock and metal in whole, not just Christian rock and metal. That is because it is another theme that transcends hard rock and metal’s many subgenres, just like the EP’s overarching theme. When all of this is considered alongside the rest of the EP’s lyrical body, the whole therein makes for even more reason for audiences to take in this record.
Putting the period on After The Storm is the record’s production. The production ensures a fully positive general effect. From the beginning to end of this record, the production fully ensures that no one performance by any of the band members overshadows that of the others. Everything is expertly balanced, especially in the record’s heavier moments. The result is a record that is just as appealing for its general effect as for its content. All things considered, After The Storm proves to be another solid new offering from Skillet that is also among the best of this year’s new EPs.
After The Storm is available now. More information on the EP is available along with all of Skillet’s latest news at:
Website: https://skillet.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/skillet