Shinedown have a distinctive sound, from the beats of their drums, to the undeniable vocals of Brent Smith. While instantly recognising this trademark sound, Shinedown have challenged the norm enough to keep it interesting.
‘Cut the Cord’ is one of a few worthy of their anthem style title, along with ‘It All Adds Up’ with the strong drums, and backing vocals that are almost choir-like and reminisient of their top tracks from previous albums including ‘Devour’. In ‘Outcast’ there is evidence of an attempt to change up the vocals to give it some variety in the sound, but with the chorus returning to the Shinedown strength we all know.
Shinedown are known for creating songs that resonate on an emotional level building the bond between themselves and their listeners, and Threat To Survival is no exception with ‘Thick as Thieves’ and ‘Misfits’.
With both these tracks, Smith hits a deeper emotional level, and a vulnerability that his listeners connect to.
The lyrics of ‘Thick as Thieves’ will connect to a broad audience with “You built this fortress, I stumble towards it, And guilty I may be, but don’t give up on me” with so many stories that could relate to this as a way of reaching out for help.
It would be hard to imagine the few that would not connect to the lyrics in ‘Misfits’ with the strength of the music behind it, telling the story of a pair who didn’t fit into the usual square box. “They called us crazy cos we never fit in, we never thought of keeping up with their trends, it didn’t matter that we weren’t on the list, cause we were misfits, we were misfits”. This song definitely tops it as one of the lyrical anthems of the album and a strong ending to the new album.
Giving the fans something new to enjoy, they have still given us the qualities that we love when we think of Shinedown. While newer fans may not attach to this album as they would with past albums such as The Sound of Madness and Amaryllis, they have still given us something to challenge our way of thinking of this world which is what they are great at.
6/10
Reviewer: Courtney Laura