Ημερομηνία δημοσίευσης: 11 Ιουλίου 2019
Six years after their debut album “Safe in Sound” was released, Israeli Walkways make a comeback this year with their second LP “Bleed out, Heal out”. Their new album features 14 tracks and about an hour of playtime and continues at the same alternative metal paths that they‘ve taken, going through various emotional peaks and valleys. Personally, I spotted influences from Disturbed, Korn, Slipknot to Deftones, Breaking Benjamin and Architects.
The theme of the album revolves around the trials of life, the traumas and the despair that comes along with them, how we must overcome these difficulties, evolve ourselves and come out stronger than before, realizing at the same time that we are not alone. Also, it deals with subjects such as war and animal abuse (the track “Enough” has sounds of pigs getting slaughtered in the background and is an accusation against the meat industry).
Musically speaking, the tracks vary from fast and heavy to slow and atmospheric, some of which even change their pace internally. Τhe voice of Ran Yerushalmi really manages to adapt to those changes, some times using harsh vocals and screamos and other times using soft and melodic vocals. The low-tuned guitars of Bar Caspi and Yoni Menner some times play heavy riffs (usually more metalcore-y chug riffs), while other times they contribute to the atmosphere of the song with more meloding playing. The bass playing of Avihai Levy offers the important low end frequencies that are needed and, combined with the drums of Priel Horesh, they play a vital role in the energy of each song, sometimes even getting in more proggy paths. At this point, it is worth mentioning the DIY approach of the album, because, except for the mastering, the recording and mixing of the album was done entirely by the band itself and they are at a very high level. I also liked some symphonic additions, although I am not sure that they will be heard in a live show of theirs, like the use of choral vocals and violins in some parts (could be made with a synthesizer though, I am not sure). Something that any first time listener will notice is that Walkways don’t prefer their song structure to be too formulaic, something that Ι personally think, combined with the changes in the tracks, may not make the listeners to really stick to them and may as well tire them. Another observation is that none of the tracks climaxes with a solo (I am not a guy who needs a solo in every song, but still), but instead Walkways choose other ways (e.g. returning with heavier riffs, the use of choral vocals).
To sum up, I believe that this album is definitely an evolution of their debut album, with a more mature sound, but I think that it misses some tracks that will stand out and get the listener’s attention straightaway. That doesn’t mean this isn’t an interesting album and having listened to it a considerable amount of times, I can definitely say that some tracks stick to you after a while. If you consider that they’ve supported bands such as In Flames, Avenged Sevenfold and Disturbed, it shows, at the very least, that they ‘ve got potential. I conclude this review with these lyrics from the track “Humane Beings”: Human beings, To humane beings, Human kind, To humane & kind.
Βαθμολογία: 78/100
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John Papagiannis
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