Filter – The Algorithm
Filter – The Algorithm
Golden Robot Records
Release Date: 25/08/23
Running Time: 41:04
Review by Dark Juan
470,456/10
I know I spend a huge amount of time pontificating about the importance of the underground, the UK Metal scene and how all the best stuff is underground when it comes to music, but there are times when there is an opportunity to review something from a major and important band that you have loved for decades. Dark Juan would be a very silly dickhead indeed to not snap up such an opportunity. In fact, Dark Juan would like it to be known that if he didn’t take such an opportunity, then he is to be flogged by an endless train of people who can wield bullwhips effectively until my back is opened up to the bone. Editor-in-Extremis Simon Black is not invited because he will do it because I frequently don’t follow the Ever-Metal.com rules when it comes to review templates and the like. Ever-Metal Mum Beth Morait won’t do it either because she’s just got married and she’s still loved up.
I’m scared of EM writers Laura Barnes and Rory Bentley, though. They’d turn me to burger meat in no time. Laura is far too nice and giggly and Dark Juan is convinced there’s a dark side to her larger than the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way and Rory is just… Rory. He is quite gigglesome too, though.
However, I am not here to share my worries about the team I work with (new guys Gem and Oli are unknown quantities and therefore not yet a concern. I stress, YET), I am here to inform you that I have started the Platter of Splatter™ and that I have the privilege of listening to the latest release by American Post-Industrialists/ Alt-Rockers Filter. If you don’t know who Filter are, then you are either a Neophyte in this world of Metal, or you’re a fucking philistine. Fronted by the inimitable Richard Patrick, who started out playing guitar in Nine Inch Nails many moons ago, Filter have been rattling around for over 30 years and Dark Juan can remember picking up a copy of their debut album, “Short Bus” in the 90s on the strength of one song – that being ‘Hey Man Nice Shot’ that was on the Demon Knight film soundtrack, and being blown the fuck away. Then they released “Title Of Record” which had the absolutely immense ‘Cancer’ on it and then Dark Juan kind of fell out of love with the band. The uninitiated will probably know Filter for their collaboration with The Crystal Method, ‘(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do?’ which was something of a hit way back when. Basically, I had been seduced by more extreme genres and some bad press about the attitude of the band (there was a famously hostile Metal Hammer article about them in the early 2000s) and also because I wasn’t a fan of the last Filter record I bought, which was “Anthems For The Damned”.
Well then, let’s see whether Richard and Filter can beguile this seasoned veteran of extreme music again…
“The Algorithm” is the first new work from Filter in seven years, and the music, voice and songwriting of Patrick sounds considerably fresher and more energized than previous recordings. This new energy is amply displayed on the opening track ‘The Drowning’ where a simple guitar riff and bassline is overlaid with Richard’s signature vocals – equal parts crooning sex god and rampaging serial killer until the pace picks up for the bridge and chorus. Patrick oozes pathos and pain as he wrings every drop of emotion from his delivery. The music itself is also very idiosyncratic – a melding of Alt Rock, Grunge and Industrial Metal, which, while an unusual combination, is also fairly timeless and there’s nothing else that really sounds like Filter in their pomp. Where ‘The Drowning’ leans more towards the Alt Rock side of Filter’s sound, the music on ‘Up Against The Wall’ leans hard on the Industrial ethos of the band with an impassioned vocal from Patrick that is very reminiscent of a more gruff Chris Cornell in intonation and pitch (especially on the chorus). Dark Juan, so far, is seated upon his sofa with his jaw firmly open and resting on the deck. This really is the best Filter for twenty years and Dark Juan is grooving most mightily indeed, and I am only two tracks in.
Further delights immediately slap your good correspondent around the chops, though, with the third track ‘For The Beaten’ which engages in lots of play between the Industrial component of Filter’s music with the expressive and anthemic Rock choruses that Patrick can write so expertly, effortlessly transitioning between jerky, piston-like Industrial on the verse and middle eight, and soaring like a magnificent Alt Rock eagle on the chorus. Is there such a thing as an Alt Rock eagle?
Fuck it, there is now.
Anyway, it’s a fucking good tune that plays cleverly on the dichotomies between the styles that Filter use as the base of the band’s sound (Alt Grungedustrial, anyone? No? Just me then…) and demonstrates the sheer uniqueness of Filter’s music – ‘Obliteration’ is a lighter-waving stadium pleaser with Industrial and cheeky Nu-Metal notes seething beneath the skin of what initially appears to be a highly-polished chant-a-long chartbuster. ‘Say It Again’ changes tack completely and is a filthy, dirty groove machine with a strong Grunge undertow to the music, the lyrics, and the vocal harmonies, but there’s a hammering Industrial backbeat behind the heartfelt pathos and the melody. It is this melding of humanity and machinery that makes Filter so beguiling. ‘Summer Children’ confounds the expectation of the listener again, with a verse that has a very Pop-Punk intonation on the vocals that changes into a Classic Rock chorus and some frankly gorgeous vocal harmonies. Dark Juan officially has goosebumps and that hasn’t happened since I last listened to They Watch Us From The Moon and The Chronicles Of Manimal And Samara.
Fucking hell, Richard Patrick, how I have missed you…
If you think you might like an idiosyncratic combination of man and maschinenklang, then Filter have got a fucking peach of a record for you. “The Algorithm” is the finest Filter for fucking years.
I have an issue, however, and that is Richard Patrick is older than Dark Juan and looks absolutely fucking fantastic and that’s a crime against humanity for which he cannot be forgiven.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System has entered some kind of nirvana. It’s like the late 90s again and Dark Juan is scouring the internet for Cyberdog light up t-shirts and Quilmes beer and wondering whether Emma from college that he had a massive crush on has settled down yet. It awards Filter 470,456/10 for an album that marks Richard Patrick’s return to fucking glorious genius. There are no weak songs on here. It’s sheer transcendental joy to listen to “The Algorithm” from opening note to closing wail.
TRACKLISTING:
01. The Drowning
02. Up Against The Wall
03. For The Beaten
04. Obliteration
05. Say It Again
06. Face Down
07. Summer Children
08. Threshing Floor
09. Be Careful What You Wish For
10. Burn Out The Sun
11. Command Z
LINE-UP:
Richard Patrick – Lead vocals, guitars, bass, programming, keyboards
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
