I have one question.

Just one.

Who mastered this?
Just about everything sounds compressed and muddy. I find myself turning it down to listen to it without feeling like I’m going through an aural assault because it’s too loud.

I’ve seen the album described as being brutal.
If it is brutal, it’s because it sounds shit.

There. I said it.

If anyone takes issue with that, well too bad. It is an awful mix that only serves to drag the quality of the album down.

It was Forrester Savell who mixed and mastered this?

Why am I not surprised?

Sometimes he’s alright. I’ve heard him do some great work. I’ve also heard him do some stuff that leaves a lot to be desired.

With that being said, this might be the worst I’ve heard him do.

If this turned out to be a decision from Jaz Coleman or Shihad and not Forrester’s choice, then shame on him from choosing to bow down to that kind of crap.

Now that I’ve said what I wanted to about the sound quality, I’ll talk about the rest of the album.

It’s not too bad.

It’s not too good either.

There are a some songs that will rank amongst Shihad’s best.
There are also some that feel undercooked. However, they still fit in well on the track list.

The band does sounds far more impassioned than they did on the previous two albums (both decent but needed a bit more work).

Much of the music has a lot of groove and flow and the approach has been kept simple and highly direct. Whilst the drumming is the most noticeably stripped down, just about everything else has been reigned in, making the band much tighter than usual as they aggressively attack their instruments and also allowing for clearer emoting through the music.

Speaking of which, Jon Toogood is usually better when it comes to lyrics.
Whilst there’s no denying how angry he and the others sound, there’s a bit too much cheese for my liking.

Having Jaz Coleman work on the album was definitely a good idea.
At this stage in their career, Shihad need someone to help them with the creative process as this is quite possibly their most inspired work in a long time. With that being said, it could’ve been better.

For some reason, the four bonus tracks from the special edition were left off. They easily outshine a good portion of the album as they sound quite complete and, mixing and mastering aside, heavier than most of the album.

To me, a good example would be “Funeral Dance”, the last of the bonus tracks. It could’ve easily replaced the closing track, “Cheap As” as it sounds far more incisive and bitter. It also manages to say what it needs to without meandering aimlessly, something I feel that “Cheap As” does (although I do quite like the main riff). It is also the closest to sounding like Killing Joke that the band has ever been.

Whilst Jaz Coleman has clearly had a positive impact on the band, too much of the album sounds really beefy, bulky and overly muscular. Sometimes the songs can come off as a bit big and dumb because of this.
That may be the point though, considering a lot of it seems to be politically themed and sometimes it’s better to have something hit hard, despite how long it may take to reach that stage.

With that being said I feel Shihad work better as a sleek, lean and muscular unit. They are more than able to be dynamically heavy and it’s something they do better than heavy heavy. A good example would be “Debs Night Out” from Killjoy. Whilst the album doesn’t feel like it’s attacking you, a lot of it is quite abrasive and confrontational, especially for a guitar record. “Debs Night Out” sits right in the middle and doesn’t sound anything like the other songs. It’s quite light and airy, being somewhat of a reprieve, creating an interesting dichotomy sound-wise. However, the lyrics (seemingly about confronting someone over damaging behaviour) make the song as heavy as the rest of the album thematically and emotionally, making it feel more in place, thus strengthening the album instead of weakening it.

Comparatively, “Loves Long Shadow” (a song about losing a loved one) can be seen as a similar track. However, whilst it is the song that sounds the least similar to the rest of the FVEY and seems somewhat thematically and emotionally connected to the other songs, it’s not by much. It also loses impact being the penultimate track instead of being placed a slight bit earlier on in the album.

Killjoy works because whilst it is quite intense, it isn’t continuously punching you in the face or screaming at you as close to your eardrum as possible.

I don’t think FVEY is a great album. There are times where it’s really good and there are times where it’s alright. Unfortunately it’s hampered by the poor sound quality. However, I do think it is a step in the right direction for Shihad and I’m sure that if they keep working with Jaz Coleman they can put out an album that will be vastly superior to this and quite possibly the majority of their discography.