FIGHTSTAR 'BEHIND THE DEVILS BACK' ALBUM AND LIVE REVIEW

‘Behind The Devils Back’ came storming into the UK Rock Charts on Friday instantly securing itself a Top 10 position and it’s easy to see why. Fightstar recently returned from a lengthy five year hiatus in which they undertook several solo projects including bassist Dan and guitarist Alex’s band ‘Gunship’ and front man Charlie Simpsons successful solo project where he released two albums over the five year period. But do not fear they are back and better than ever! The last time loyal fans were blessed with new music was back in 2009 with the release of ‘Be Human’ so it’s easy to understand the overflowing eager anticipation for this new release. ‘Animals’, the albums single, was released a few weeks back building up a substantial amount of hype and momentum in the weeks leading up to the full release. Wasting no time to pick up where they left off the song opens up in typical fashion with bellowing screams, dirty guitar riffs and pounding drums, just what the doctor ordered. Due to the nature of the bands absence many feared the worst, will they ever come back? We know that feeling all too well. But lo and behold they returned with live shows to celebrate their 10 year anniversary as a band, promising a new album on the horizon. But where would they go with their music? What will the album sound like? After such a long time away from Fightstar it was difficult to predict what exactly we could expect with the new album. When ‘Animals’ dropped, it is safe to say an uncontrollable abundance of emotions where flying around for all fans: relief, happiness, excitement even a level of nostalgia. The week of the album release and start of the UK&I tour came around like a whirlwind and was a busy week with the band releasing another 3 tracks from the album for everyone to hear. ’Sharp Tounge’, ‘Sink With the Snakes’ and album title track ‘Behind the Devils Back’ were unveiled across the course of the week giving us all a greater indication of what the band had done with the album. The first adjective that springs to mind was of course one many could have predicted months before the first song was released, ‘HEAVY’. Thrashing power riffs interrupted by imposing bends travelling at 100mph before abruptly coming to a halt to reveal the contrasting soft under layer of the track is how they introduced us to ‘Sharp Tounge’ which is the opening track of the album. It’s like going to a friend’s house for the first time, anticipation and intrigue growing slowly inside, for them to open the door and drop kick you square in the chest. You didn’t really think they would give you time to ease back into proceedings did you?

As a whole we would argue that this is Fightstar’s heaviest album, there isn’t one song, apart from potentially ‘Dive’, that could be classed as a slow track. They are all meaty balls of fire, even Dive would lull you to a soft state of relaxation at the end of the album, time to reflect on the 36 minutes of music you have just listened too, but they refuse to end the album in such a calm manor dropping an almighty breakdown just before they say their farewells. Given the stature and quality of this album it is a near impossible task to pick any stand out tracks with them all being worthy of the title. However that’s what we are here for so we digress, for us two just manage to pip the top spot and stand taller than their counterparts. The first being ‘Murder all Over’ one I’m sure many fans would deem a controversial selection after all it’s not a pre-release song, a single or even predominantly placed on the albums ordering. The second track on the album it’s a clever and extremely well written song, it has bits of everything you want from a rock/metal track. Weighty riffs, breakdowns, incredible percussion and great vocals but it’s not all these singular parts that make it one of the best on the album, it’s the sheer fluidity of the whole song that make it catchy and even to a certain degree funky. Just try and stand/ sit/ lay still without singing once whilst listening to this song honestly you’ve got more chance of winning an Olympic gold in the 100m against Usain Bolt. It’s infectious; of all the songs on the album this one will stick in your mind for days on end. Our second pick has to be ‘Titan’ arguably the most vicious track on the album it definitely packs one hell of a punch. Charlie’s vocals are at a pinnacle in this song, some of the best we have heard on any of Fightstar’s songs, they are off the chart. His progression since the early days of ‘Palahniuk’s Laughter’ is incredible he’s grown into a truly fantastic singer. Without even a glimmer of bias in the comment we genuinely would argue the case with any one in saying he is probably the best vocalist in rock and metal music at the moment. His transition from a melodic chorus into pure death scream is seemingly effortless, and on an even more fundamental level the quality of his screaming is again one of the best in the industry it’s an art that many fail to get right but continue to use. In some cases it can make songs sound unbearable, it’s more of a take on a yappy dog than a metal scream, but he has it down to a fine art.

As a whole the album is fortress of energetic passion, with the balance to create the perfection. The heavy parts are some of the best we have ever heard, but it’s not overkill, they maintain a continual catchy feel throughout which for a metal album makes it weirdly intricate with the constant variation of soft and heavy sections. It does a fantastic job in misleading the listener into thinking it’s going to be short of the heavily intense calibre of its predecessors; they trick us into a false sense of security allowing us to lower our guard then unleashing sporadic burst of intermittent hell. Notice how many of the tracks are technical in the construction of the verses, choruses and bridges nothing from start to finish is too repetitive. In a grand view the albums broader sound is much like what we would expect Satan’s alarm clock to sound like, whilst he is jostling between the ringing wakeup call and the relaxing snooze simultaneously following each other with such fluidity that in the hazy state of sleep becomes one. It’s completely different to the days of old tracks like ‘Tannhauser Gate’ it’s a more organised and polished record with less of the mess and more of the attitude. This isn’t to say that Grand Unification and One Day Son aren’t incredible albums, it’s just Fightstar couldn’t have returned and released a record like that again, times have changed and so have they themselves. Without being directly obvious this is an album with serious intent and class.

Being released on the Friday with the tour starting Saturday fans didn’t have long to adjust themselves to the fresh new tracks. In light of this Fightstar appeared to tailor their setlist in consideration of this fact playing only four songs from the new album including ‘Behind the Devils Back’, ‘Sharp Tounge’, ‘Sink With the Snakes’ and ‘Animals’. You can see the full set list here: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/fightstar/2015/the-troxy-london-england-3bf4405c.html. The set was still predominantly packed with songs from the bands back catalogue opening with ‘Sleep Well Tonight’ and ending with crowd favourite ‘Mono’. Filling it out we had some great songs such as ‘Build an Army’ and ‘Grand Unification’ which got the crowd moshing like there was no tomorrow. The venue itself, Troxy, was impressive a huge spacious theatre with fantastic sound systems, the only issue was the price of the drinks £5 for a small bottle of Peroni is an absolute joke but what else can you expect on a Saturday night in London. The band took a traditional set up on stage with one different alteration where Charlie took a back seat to his rhythm guitar duties bringing in a session musician to plug the gaps giving him more freedom to focus on vocals and inject mass energy into the delivery of these new songs. He was moshing about the stage in wild fashion looking as if he was pining to join the fans in the unruly circle pit down below. The lads play in Exeter tonight for the third night of their tour at the Exeter Box Office and continue to venture up North into next week finishing the tour in Scotland. If you haven’t listened to the album yet then proceed to move the rock your lying under and grab yourself a copy now unfortunately the album is unavailable on Vinyl LP and therefore we will not be stocking it but you can buy it from any of the usual vendors Amazon, iTunes etc. If your about at any of the remaining cities where the band are due to play make sure you buy a ticket and get yourself down to see them and support live music, you won’t regret it! Below you can listen to ‘Sink With the Snakes'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWJ4etIAY8w