Album Review: Fight The Fight - Deliverance

With their debut album, Fight The Fight joined into the number of bands these days throwing genre out the window, ashing together every influence they have ever had. There are now a lot of bands that see no reason not to indulge their every creative whim, who apparently believe their audience will have as varied a set of influences as they do. I don't think that's the case, which is why a lot of bands like this could do well to restrain themselves a bit. Picking a couple of different sounds to blend, but not all of them, might be a better path to take. While there were some promising moments on their first record, it wasn't something that held together as a great album. I worry that the very nature of this philosophy makes that nearly impossible.

That is put to the test early on, with the title track switching between djent grooves and black metal blasts. With vocals that switch from growls to shrieks, it's a cacophonous whirl of noise, but amid the chaos isn't much of a song. It isn't until more than halfway into the song we get the first hint of a melody, and even that is with layered harsh vocals that are rather piercing. The song is a grab-bag of modern metal cliches, and like a lot of modern metal, it comes without a framework for the experiments to hang onto.

There are better songs, though. "Ritual" is a more driving track, with a huge riff in the vain of Pantera's "Walk". But what's interesting is that after the verses are barked at us, the chorus sounds like a pissed off Axl Rose snarling the melody. That's a moment that comes as much out of nowhere, but works far better. By having that small tie to something more widely known and appreciated, it anchors the wilder moments, and has a focus the song desperately needs.

That sound carries into "Triggerfinger", where the verses are early 2000s rap-rock, but the chorus comes in with a vibe that is almost Offspring-esque. I don't know what to make of the blend, but I do find myself enjoying the bits that feel familiar to me. As was the case the first time I listened to Fight The Fight, they have moments where they come up with something I really want to like, but they surround it with music I don't think fits.

Because of that, the album is once again a mixed bag. The band delivers some solid hooks on these songs, but they aren't strong enough to make the rest of the music worth sitting through. The road to those melodies travels through riffs and vocals that veer too far away from the core of the song for my tastes. With a band like Kvelertak, they take traditional songs and twist them by using bitterly harsh vocals. Fight The Fight is taking it a step further by also moving the verses to the songs into extreme territory, and it cuts too close to the bone.

"Deliverence" is another album that shows some promise in the form of the moments when the band isn't trying to veer as far off-center as they can. They have the ability to write some interesting music, with the strong appeal, but this record as a whole is far too haphazard to work the way they want it to. Maybe for a younger listener who grew up listening to absolutely everything under the sun it will make more sense, but to my ears the string tying all of this together was missing.