Spiritbox - Tsunami Sea ALBUM REVIEW - video Dailymotion

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Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTUrj9hzlcc&pp=ygUXc3Bpcml0Ym94IGJsYWNrIHJhaW5ib3c%3D  Spiritbox returns with their second album of progressive djent alt metal pop mayhem with a slightly industrial twist here and there.   More metal reviews: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP4CSgl7K7orAG2zKtoJKnTt_bAnLwTXo  =================================== Subscribe: http://bit.ly/1pBqGCN  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theneedledrop  Official site: http://theneedledrop.com  Twitter: http://twitter.com/theneedledrop  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afantano  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theneedletok  TND Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theneedledrop  Videos edited by Jeremy and Anthony ===================================  FAV TRACKS: BLACK RAINBOW, SOFT SPINE, NO LOSS, NO LOVE, RIDE THE WAVE  LEAST FAV TRACK: KEEP SWEET  SPIRITBOX - TSUNAMI SEA / 2025 / ALTERNATIVE METAL, METALCORE, DJENT, INDUSTRIAL METAL / RISE RECORDS, PALE CHORD MUSIC  6/10  Y'all know this is just my opinion, right?

Transcript

00:00Ha! Hi everyone, CutiePatootie here, the internet's busiest music nerd,

00:06and it's time for a review of the new Spiritbox album, Tsunami Sea. Here we have the second

00:12full-length LP from Canadian crossover metal powerhouse Spiritbox, a band that in several

00:19short years has really grown to be one of the most widely appreciated and respected

00:24out there on the current day loud rock circuit, and they have supporters in some of the most

00:29surprising places. I mean, millions of fans from across the music fandom spectrum. You also had

00:35that recent Grammy nomination for Cellar Door being in the best metal performance category.

00:40Megan Thee Stallion called on the band not just for like a rock-style remix of one of her recent

00:46singles, Cobra, but the band also appeared on another recent song with her, TYG. And goth

00:52queen singer-songwriter extraordinaire Chelsea Wolfe recently covered one of the band's songs

00:58on a new kind of stripped-back EP she put out too. And that's just a few examples of the band's

01:04versatile appeal, which isn't too hard to understand when you look at some of the basics. I mean, that

01:09very punchy kind of progressive djent-style riffage that the band still specializes in.

01:16There's a lot of cultural gas left in the tank with it these days. Also, from soaring cleans to

01:22monstrous screams, frontwoman Courtney LaPlante brings to the band not just a decent amount of

01:27vocal variety, but some distinct character too. There's also real pop sensibility to how the band

01:33assembles their songs as well, and that manifests in different ways, be it through their ultra-melodic

01:39hooks, very rigid and direct song structuring, and the occasional use as well of electronics and

01:46sequence beats. And where it comes from, I can't 110% say, could just be out of a general appreciation

01:52for pop music, or most likely quite a bit of influence coming from past classic, similarly

01:58mainstream metal acts that had a similar appeal like that of Deftones or Linkin Park. Also, keep

02:05in mind the band's founding members, Courtney and Mike Stringer, are metalcore scene vets that have

02:11a history of doing things differently, given that they started this band after leaving the quite

02:17polarizing and experimental metal outfit I Wrestled a Bear Once, who during their heyday

02:23was known for pulling together elements of metalcore and grindcore and death metal and

02:28electro too. Spiritbox, by comparison though, goes down a lot easier, is much more palatable. However,

02:35the more predictable elements of the band's sound and songwriting on this album, those are the spots

02:42where I felt like this album kind of grew the coldest for me. Take the opening track, for

02:47example, which features those tight, progressive metal riffs and very aggressive, snarling guitar

02:54tones that I know currently trend well and sound very loud and very aggressive coming out of

02:59something like laptop speakers. But hearing them pouring out of anything bigger or more large-scale

03:05than that in a very short period of time, I just feel drained. Sadly, most of the guitars and riffs

03:11on this LP just don't do that much for me, and more often than not sound a lot like electrical

03:18interference or construction equipment malfunctioning, and not in a really cool, edgy,

03:23industrial sort of way either. And I'm even less enthused by the slow, sloshy, harmonious choruses

03:29that bust in, contrasting away from these more aggressive moments that feel, again, very death

03:36tones influenced. But I feel like the core appeal of that sort of sound is that you really truly do

03:41need an intense and passionate, clear, upfront lead vocal to really sell that sound. And yet,

03:48for whatever reason, Courtney's vocals are more buried in the mix on these parts than on the rest

03:53of the album, and touched up to the point where they sound like not a lead vocal, but more like

03:58a random synth layer just kind of thrown into the mix underneath everything else. And maybe I'm

04:02wrong, but listening to tracks on this album like Keep Sweet or Crystal Roses or the title track,

04:08for example, I don't remember this many vocal performances on the band's last album being

04:13this heavily processed. And I do feel like taking things in this direction, while it does lead to a

04:18sound that is cleaner, it does simultaneously take away from the moments where I feel like the band

04:22is really trying to deliver a more moving and intimate experience, like on The Closer. Yeah,

04:28it just kind of leads to a sound and a vibe that is more sterile than it is human. But yeah,

04:35the overall sound of this album, while it is blaring like a metal album should be, it doesn't

04:41feel consistently heavy as much as it feels persistently compressed, because even the quieter,

04:47softer parts of the album sound intensely loud, too, which really kneecaps the dynamics of these

04:55songs and the overall experience of them, because those louder moments don't quite hit as hard when

05:00everything else on the album sounds almost just as loud. With that being said, though,

05:05there are some spots on this LP where the band is just firing on all cylinders, volume-wise,

05:11creatively, too, and I think these are the brightest moments on the album. Black Rainbow

05:16being a prime example where the band is not just working in these eerie UFO-style synthesizers,

05:21kind of enveloping the guitars in them, but they have these very odd robot-style lead vocals, too,

05:27that make me feel like I'm listening to, I don't know, some kind of like mecha metal piece. The

05:32kick drums on this track are especially punchy, the screams are insane, and there are a few other

05:37moments on this record, too, that scratch a similar itch. Be that No Loss, No Love or Soft

05:43Spine, where the band is really going in, not just in terms of the intensity of the guitars and

05:48drums, but lyrically, too, with opening bars like, you all deserve each other, and I hate the ones

05:55that love you. The writing on this track is just absolutely seething in that classic kind

06:01of metalcore way where you're setting up a target and just unloading the clip. Ride the Wave not

06:05only continues many of the album's lyrical themes of water and drowning and just kind of being,

06:12you know, immersed, being lost in water or some kind of water-type scenario, being lost in or

06:18overtaken by something as large and as powerful as a body of water or waves, again, consistent

06:24theme, but we do have some great, sinister opening guitar leads on this track, some tension-building

06:29verses that all lead up to this absolutely explosive bridge that makes for one of the

06:34best payoffs on the record. But yeah, to me, this record, sadly, was a little bit of a mixed bag,

06:40not quite what I was expecting it would be, despite enjoying at least a teaser or two.

06:45The best moments of the album feature some okay dynamics, some progressive,

06:49forward-thinking songwriting, as well as some creative genre fusions. Meanwhile, the worst

06:55moments just kind of hit like very formulaic, current-day commercial metal with no natural

07:01feel to it, over-processed vocals. It essentially feels like a pop album with blaring guitars,

07:07and I get there are a lot of choices out there these days when it comes to that sort of vibe,

07:12and believe me, there are bands out there making, you know, similar music that you could do much

07:18worse than Spiritbox. Still, that doesn't really change that the production much of the time is

07:23punishing in ways that aren't exactly gratifying, that the band paints itself into a corner sonically

07:28pretty quickly over the course of this very trim 43-minute track list, and they don't really fully

07:34explore the full potential on this record. Between all the guitar tones, they could be pursuing the

07:41different combinations of metal and pop and electronic music, as well as, like, you know,

07:46fuller ranges of dynamics, loud and soft, so on and so forth, which really would have made this

07:52the interesting and varied album it could have been, but instead it feels more overly-processed

07:57and one-note than it actually should, which is why I'm feeling a strong 5 to about a light 6

08:02on this thing. Transition, have you given this record a listen? Did you love it? Did you hate

08:07it? What would you rate it? You're the best, you're the best. What should I review next?

08:10Hit the like if you like, please subscribe, and please don't cry. Hit the bell as well.

08:14Over here next to my head is another video that you can check out. Hit that up or the link to

08:17subscribe to the channel. Anthony Fantano, Spiritbox, do it forever.

Spiritbox - Tsunami Sea ALBUM REVIEW

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