When we were first introduced to Brand New in 2001 with Your Favorite Weapon, we heard a band with raw skills, pop-punk riffs and lyrics full of teenage angst. After building a fan base by touring relentlessly, Brand New went back to the studio to record 2003's Deja Entendu. Drastically different from YFW, it once again showed extreme potential (they actually learned to play their instruments), but many knew there was much more on the way.
Now, in their major label debut, Brand New have grown up. Their latest release, The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me, delivers with mind-blowing emotion and, for a second time, almost a complete reinvention of style.
The first track ""Sowing Season (Yeah)"" lulls you in with a sweet melody and dramatic lyrics and then punches you in the face with a hard riff and raw sound, setting the stage for what is to come.
The first six tracks of The Devil succeed in seamlessly flowing into one another and always seem as though they are slowly building into something more. From the beginning, the main appeal of The Devil is present in the raw emotion of lead singer Jesse Lacey's voice. Gone are the days when Lacey sings about girls who don't want to date him. Now, tracks like ""Jesus Christ"" give a look into the soul of a man scared to die alone due to his tendency to push all his loved ones away. Serving as a ballad of sorts, this song will haunt the listener.
But the album really starts to hit its stride on the fourth track, ""Degausser."" When Lacey exclaims with agonizing force that ""the storm is coming, the storm is coming in,"" you are compelled to listen.
By far the high point of this album is ""Limousine."" An eight-minute epic, the song starts softly with a gentle melody and whispered lyrics, and then builds into a powerful message of desperation and desire. The middle two minutes of the song repeat, with slight variation and increasing distortion, the lyrics ""Well I love you so much, but do me a favor baby don't reply / Because I can dish it out, but I can't take it,"" echoing his love-fearing from ""Jesus Christ.""
The Devil is not without its downside, however, as it inexplicably contains not one, but two instrumentals that serve no purpose but to break the album up into disjointed pieces. There is no reason why they couldn't have replaced these with some of the superb songs from the demos leaked earlier this year. The instrumentals take away from equally solid tracks such as ""Luca"" and ""The Archers Bows Have Broken"" present at the tail end of the album.
With harder guitars and more distortion than any of their past efforts, The Devil takes some getting used to, but the conveyance of raw emotion is what this album hinges on. Many fans may be disappointed with the bands' latest reinvention due to the hype surrounding this release, but don't be fooled. As their most technically and musically sound album put out to date, it is obvious we will see more great things from Brand New in the future. There's no telling how far their musical ability will take them.
