Album: The Flame in All of Us
Artist: Thousand Foot Krutch
Label: Tooth and Nail
Sounds like: Skillet, POD

If Thousand Foot Krutch's latest album sounds that little bit less angry, maybe it’s to match the lyrical theme of the title track—that the youth of today are not all about "pain and sorrow" but about hope. This opener begins with some darkly ropey riffing but the Krutch add some decidedly danceable pop moves. On "Falls apart," again, there is a gothic guitar sound that can be traced right back to albums such as Soundgarden's "Badmotorfinger," one of the strongest albums to showcase the Seattle sound. But it (and meant-to-be-spooky whispering) is balanced by the uplifting melody (in much the same manner as POD's anthemic work) and waltzing beat. "New drug" is stock-standard nu-metal—tectonic riffing and thundering toms— yet mostly plodding. With track four "What do we know," the album takes a lighter turn, and if you're going to make a syrupy ballad, why not add strings and a kids' choir? But the two-chord chiming guitar strumming isn't hugely creative. "Favorite disease" works better. Like Muse's unusually restrained "Endlessly," it is pulsing but soft, with guitar notes like little pinpoints of light, though it suffers a little from resorting to the praise-and-worship style chorus. So does "My home." "Learn to breathe" tackles more ambitious territory and sounds like recent Silverchair, with its theatrical strings, complicated chords and plotting. The album’s biggest surprise may be the hidden bonus track, a throwaway number (chorus: "this is the last song so everybody sing along"), which, unfortunately for the band, shows up much of the preceding material in its casual yet summery cheeriness.

Nick's Rating: 3/5