Valient Thorr - Stranger
Rating
RIYL
MotorheadThin Lizzy
Kiss
Release Date
09/14/2010
Label
Volcom EntertainmentTracklist
1. Gillionaire2. Sleeper Awakes
3. Disappearer
4. Double Crossed
5. Night Terrors
6. Sudden Death is Nothing
7. Woman in the Woods
8. Vision Quest
9. Habituary
10. The Recognition
11. Without Hope, Without Fear
12. Future Humans
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Valient Thorr knows what it’s like to work for their success. The North Carolina quintet has been diligently touring the past five years and earned a cult following from their intense live shows and memorable antics on stage. Unfortunately though, this is not a live show review, it’s an album critique, and while having a strong stage presence is important, it’s only half the battle. A great band needs to be able to back up their performances with quality albums, and Valient Thorr is losing that part of the fight with their latest release Stranger.
This album sounds as if the band simply churned out a bunch of songs for the sole purpose of giving their fans some new tunes to sing along with at shows. While there’s not necessarily anything wrong with doing that, it doesn’t make for an enjoyable listening experience. Most of tracks come and go without leaving an impact on the listener and can generally be grouped into two categories: balls to the wall straight up rock songs and faster tracks that are metal and punk influenced. If you make it to the third song, you’ve basically heard the whole album because the next nine tracks aren’t much different. Also, the instrumental track towards the end, “The Recognition,” is completely random; it consists of a minute long drum beat that goes nowhere.
Some of the brighter moments come in the form of catchy hooks in songs like “Gillionaire,” “Disappear,” and “Vision Quest,” but Valient Thorr really shines when they stray from the path they take with the majority of the songs. A perfect example is “Woman in the Woods,” which has a groovy tom-laden drum beat with vocals that fall somewhere between talking and yelling and a wicked breakdown in the middle of the track where the guitar solo and drums effectively complement each other. It’s a welcome change of pace from the faster, more straightforward songs on Stranger.
Current fans of Valient Thorr may not love Stranger, but they will surely like it enough to add it to their album collections. However, for the rest of you who don’t understand the band’s popularity, this will not be an album to change your minds.
--Nicholas Fritz
Comments
Portland, OR
Saw them open for Baroness, BTBAM and Mastodon. The show was a tasty sandwich of meaty greatness between two pieces of stale bread.
Minnesota
I've never caught on to these guys. Their live show is interesting, but all of their recorded output is just subpar.
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Dubuque
Totally agree. I saw them perform at Warped Tour a few years ago and it was by far one of the best performances of the day. I have to admit I do like "Legend Of The World".
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Portland, OR
Man, I just didn't like their live show. Guess that's just me. They definitely have fun, I'll give them that.