Filter – Anthems For The Damned – music review

Artist: Filter

Title: Anthems for the Damned

Label: Pulse

Rating: 3/10

Corporate line:
The mastermind behind Filter’s fourth album, “Anthems for the Damned,” its first in five years since “The Amalgamut,” is what Patrick calls his “howl in the night,” a harsh indictment of civilization that doesn’t exclude himself from its vision of a world falling apart.

Featuring such collaborators as guitarist/songwriter John 5 (Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie), guitarist Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit) and drummer Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, Guns N’ Roses, the Vandals), Anthems for the Damned was produced by Pulse Recording’s Josh Abraham (Slayer, 30 Seconds to Mars, Velvet Revolver, Staind, Courtney Love).

The album traces Patrick’s own anger and shame with the state of things, from the intense alternative industrial blast of “The Take,” “What’s Next” and “Hatred is Contagious,” through the stunned acceptance and ironic sarcasm of the first single, “Soldiers of Misfortune,” the ultimate resignation of “Kill the Day” and “Lie After Lie” to the tentative hope expressed by “Only You” and the ambient soundscape of the closing “Can Stop This.”

The hits:
Nothing.

The rest:
“Soldiers of Misfortune” – A typical Filter song. Richard Patrick screams and throws out a melody without much return.
“What’s Next” – Ditto previous song.
“The Wake” – This is a ’90s era style song with slow verse and then climatic chorus ala Nirvana. The problem is that just because the chorus sounds climatic it doesn’t mean it is.
“The Take” – Patrick on occasions sounds like Bono and others like Trent Reznor. It sounds like a formula for success–and yet it’s mostly boring.
“In Dreams” – Sounds like leftovers.

Finally:
“Anthems For The Damned” has nearly nothing worth mentioning. Usually Richard Patrick rips off a few really good songs that you can’t get out of your head–but nothing jumps out. Everything sounds average. Songs like “I Keep Flowers Around” couldn’t sound weaker? Most songs have some energy but they have no heart. “Anthems For The Damned” is dead on arrival.

Watch the video for “Soldiers of Misfortune”