Straddling the line between slacker pop-punk and shredding metal, Sum 41 have stood high among alternative rock’s most revered bands since their iconic debut album All Killer No Filler released in 2001. Now, after 27 years together, the Ontario based quintet have returned for one last hurrah before riding off into the sunset. Their eighth and final album Heaven :x: Hell splits itself down the middle with ten tracks of upbeat pop-punk and another ten of blistering alt-metal. It’s certainly an ambitious undertaking but can Sum 41 really deliver their usual quick-witted, plucky sound on an album this huge?
Heaven :x: Hell gets off to a strong start with ‘Waiting On A Twist Of Fate’, a classic sounding pop-punk anthem which feels just as fresh as their work in the early 2000s. Drummer Frank Zummo’s blisteringly fast beats take centre stage with some incredibly impressive drumming rarely heard in modern pop-punk while the rest of the band keep the pace with sing-along gang vocals and ferocious, shredding guitar solos. It’s genuinely refreshing to hear pop-punk taken back to its roots like this, combining skater-punk attitude and catchy hooks with fun, technical musicianship. If ‘Waiting On A Twist Of Fate’ is the beginning of the end then the rest of the album is set up to be a great send off for Sum 41.
“It’s genuinely refreshing to hear pop-punk taken back to its roots like this, combining skater-punk attitude and catchy hooks with fun, technical musicianship.”
The “Heaven” half of this double album is focused on Sum 41’s more upbeat, pop-punk style material which they deliver with ease. From the raucous, party punk of ‘I Can’t Wait’ to the more subdued ‘Dopamine’ or the Can’t Swim style emo of ‘Not Quite Myself’, the first part of the album shows off Sum 41’s ability to still write a banger like they used to. At its best the ‘Heaven’ half is as steadfast and solid as the band’s best material but it’s not all smooth sailing; ten tracks of pop-punk is a lot of space to fill when the genre lives and dies on a catchy, upbeat energy and even titans like Sum 41 run out of steam with some filler standing out amongst the killer. If they’d settled for a less ambitious concept for the album then tracks like ‘Landmines’ and ‘Future Primitive’ surely would’ve been left by the wayside. Fortunately Sum 41 keep the pace up, with the album’s songs rarely exceeding three minutes, so even the rougher tracks do little to derail the breakneck energy of Heaven :x: Hell.
In the same vein as classic Sum 41 tracks like ‘Still Waiting’ or ‘Pleasure For Pain’ the second half of Heaven :x: Hell leans heavier with more of a fast-paced, thrashy alternative metal energy. After a mood-setting intro the “Hell” half of the album wastes no time getting started, from the anthemic, defiant ‘Rise Up’ with its Avenged Sevenfold style guitar solo to the groovy ‘I Don’t Need Anyone’ or the metalcore inspired ‘You Wanted War’ there’s some solid, if a little dated feeling, material here. Similarly to the first side there’s a little fat here that could’ve been trimmed with a serviceable but uninspiring cover of ‘Paint It Black’ by The Rolling Stones standing out as especially unnecessary.
“Even titans like Sum 41 run out of steam with some filler standing out amongst the killer”
The final track on the album, Sum 41’s last stand before gracefully fading away, is ‘How The End Begins’. There’s some truly brilliant vocals from frontman Deryck Whibley here, channelling a later-era Chester Bennington of Linkin Park with a powerful, gravelly performance which really elevate an otherwise very straightforward track. The chunky power chords and booming drums do a lot to shift the track’s focus onto the vocal performance but don’t really add much in their own right like they do on other songs on the album. ‘How The End Begins’ ends the album on a bit of a damp note, fading out just as quickly as it starts, delivering a great vocal performance but not a lot else.
Overall Heaven :x: Hell is a bit of a mixed bag with some of the best singles of the band’s career as well as a handful of unnecessary and repetitive tracks. There’s a fantastic final goodbye for Sum 41 in here but there’s a little too much filler for the killer.