Pop Evil – What Remains
Pop Evil – What Remains
MNRK Heavy
Release Date: 21/03/2025
Review by Beth Morait
8.5/10
In my mind, Modern Arena Rock always walks a fine line between hellishly good, and ultimate cheese. But indulging in some cheeky cheesy secret pleasures is something we should also do more often. Because, if you like it, who gives a rat’s ass if it’s cheesy!! And, regardless of how edgy or niche you are, literally no-one can resist a good sing-a-long, and if you say you can, I won’t believe you.
USA Modern Rockers Pop Evil have been around for two decades now, and this is their 8th album release. It promises an album full of Arena Rock bangers, so let’s see what we’ve got.
First track, ‘When Bullets Miss’ immediately launches into something stadium-esque, with a heavy, Modern style intro, complete with a siren sound effect as a call to arms. But it’s not what you’d imagine, if you were looking for the cheese of Arena Rock. It’s much heavier than I thought it would be. It’s kind of Limp Bizkit like, with a hard-hitting, mainly rapped verse, and then a chorus of clean vocals with a great, gravelly Rock edge. It’s only a very short track though, coming in under the 3-minute mark, so you don’t really get time to think about it too hard.
Continuing with ‘Deathwalk’, it’s clear that the band have established a specific sound for this album, as it’s a continuation of what we heard in the opening track. But, the album takes a bit of a twist in the title track, ‘What Remains’. It’s got an even heavier, almost Industrial feel about the intro, and is pretty Progressive with some of its rhythms, while still maintaining the mainstream, Limp Bizkit/ Linkin Park sound. There’s a lot of synth use in this track, too, which moves it into a more Modern, Electronic territory. It’s a decent track.
And then we get ‘Wishful Thinking’, which is heavier again, and my favourite track on the album, as it really highlights Leigh Kakaty’s vocals and the band’s ability to play with dynamics, from softer verses, to heavy, hard-hitting choruses. It’s definitely arena style, but much more down the avenue of 90s Alt Metal, which I like a lot.
‘Side Effects’ and ‘Enough is Enough’ are definitely tunes designed for a stadium stage, and would be crowd-pleasers. ‘Knife For The Butcher’ wonders more into Modern Emo/ Pop Rock territory, and ‘Zero To None’ seems to take Thrash, Punk, Grunge, and Chart Pop Rock with a sprinkle of 90s Rave in the chord sequences, and throw it into a blender to see what happens. The album closes with ‘Overkill’, and this takes a wander into Boy Band territory vocally, with heavier elements provided by the guitars, and Progressive twists in the rhythm.
This is definitely an interesting album, and one that will appeal to the new breed of Rockers and Metalheads looking for a gateway into the scene. Go into it with an open mind if you’re older though, as, on first impressions you might hate it. But if you listen carefully, you’ll find it’s a lot cleverer and well thought out than you thought. While I liked it straight away, my initial reaction wasn’t to be blown away by it. It was a solid 7/10, but I upgraded that to an 8.5 after a couple of listens!
TRACKLISTING:
01. When Bullets Miss
02. Deathwalk
03. What Remains
04. Wishful thinking
05. Side Effects
06. Criminal
07. Enough Is Enough
08. Zero To None
09. Knife For The Butcher
10. Overkill
LINKS:
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