They have been some what reunited since 2012, but they are still active in side projects, which had altered the over all sound.Dennis Lyxzen's voice is more refined as he has learned how to actually sing and polished his pipes since "The Shape of Punk to Come". So this is not going to sound like the same band in some ways. They are still liberally experimenting. By the second song things begin to get weird. The bass sound on this album is incredible, is the first thing I walked away with. At times the bring their electronic interests into the mix with them. They flirt with metal on "Dawkins Christ", some of the riffage would not feel out of place on a Tool album. A chorus of children chanting "exterminate the brutes/ exterminate all the brutes" is chanted before the funky "Francafrique" kicks in.
There is a slight post-punk element to the electro mixed into "Thought is Blood". It's upbeat up a little darker than I remember them getting back in the day. The electronic elements work for me, but I can see fans more attached to their earlier work having a problem with them. There is a weird cock rock element to "War on the Palaces". Sometimes the vocals saunter like the Rolling Stones. then there is a weird new wave break that sounds like they are about to break into Corey Hart's "Sunglasses At Night". Some of the trickery stands out more than the others and at sometimes it even seems more like window dressing on the Rollins like rant of "Destroy the Man". "366" stays on a similar more straight up angular math tinged post- hardcore. The chorus of "thats some one's sister/ that's some one's son" sticks with you. Another Tool like riff sneaks up towards the end of the song. There is another funky riff this one sounds like it could have appeared on a Mars Volta album. The vocals are strong on this one and show a wide range. The album closes with "Useless Europeans". That highlights Lyxzen's voice and lets him croon in a lower range in a brooding apocalyptic ballad. It builds and ebbs back and forth much like a Faith No More song would, back when they had some balls to them so it's fitting that they are touring with them.Better than I thought it would be I'll call it a 9.
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