ONE OK ROCK – DETOX | Album Review

Attempting to arouse the masses with tales of assumed internal emotional battles, romantic disillusionment and the destruction of all identifiable decorum; Tokyo's ONE OK ROCK, celebrate their twentieth anniversary with the release of their eleventh studio album - DETOX.

In sampling ONE OK ROCK’s latest offerings, an unfortunate profound sense of disappointment reigned supreme over any capacity to enjoy their latest sonic boom, or more like a crackle and pop effect bouncing through the speakers. ONE OK ROCK have stayed true to their genre parameters, leaving some level of intrigue in its wake. But despite what should be an interesting mix of alt-rock, post hardcore and emo pop, concentrating on the album only gets more difficult the longer it goes. There are some gems hidden amongst the rough, but a flurry of potent mediocrity seemed to be the norm, which made such diamonds as ‘Delusion:All’ and ‘Tropical Therapy’, all the more incongruous. .

‘Delusion:All’ proved itself to be the best foot forward ONE OK ROCK could have chosen as lead single. Presenting itself as an ode to rebellion and the uncomfortableness associated with being traumatised by the normalisation of catastrophic social, institutional and environmental events. With its mature sounding beats, a truly inspired instrumental arrangement and frontman Takahiro Moriuchi’s impressive vocal performance, it all amalgamates to create a welcome slice through the mind’s eye, emboldening a disenchanted generational struggle for progression and betterment.

‘Tropical Therapy’ is an ode to disconnection from a personal problem or outlook on the dire state of current affairs. While its charm centres on a fascination with old school pop punk, it’s not clear who the band truly are beneath the noise, which felt especially troubling when remembering that this band has been around for the best part of two decades. ‘Tropical Therapy’ did present some positives, but ultimately seemed to represent the point of no return as far as producing an engaging listening experience, as a desire to withdraw from the album’s runtime became more and more intense as time went on.

For the most part, the musical aims of DETOX are bafflingly unclear. The album’s broken but strong themes would be interesting if it wasn’t for a complete lack of identifiable stories backing up the struggle and the apparent need for several pick-me-ups. Consisting of ill-advised elements of moan-laden metalcore to force a narrative of being edgy, pursuing a more commercial sound vocally, leading to several filler mediocre track inclusions, cheesy and at times lackadaisical lyrical inclusions which felt like they were appealing to the lowest common denominator, inconsistent production values creating so much disconnect among the entire runtime, as well as the worst sin of all, being offensively forgettable.

Although DETOX promised the sonic equivalent of being blasted off into space at warp speed, hyped to fight some unknown enemy, it’s an unexpected and wildly uncomfortable ride, with the windshield blown off, allowing a steady stream of glossy turds to smack us in the face, leaving us to wonder if the true enemy ONE OK ROCK were so hellbent on actually defeating, was the last of their musical prowess and artistic visionary status.

The expectations on new entries to legacy bands’ discographies are always going to be higher, but the amount of work and dedication pumped into this album to create a barely mediocre write-off of this calibre, just comes off as a fools’ errand regardless of whether DETOX was produced by seasoned professionals. Disappointing should be considered a kind descriptor of DETOX, considering how empty of soul and thoughtfulness it is, as well as how recklessly they’ve frittered away their most admired elements for something so emotionally derelict. For now, we’re in need of a proper detox from ONE OK ROCK’s rock bottom. Do yourself a favour, save ‘Delusion:All’ to your playlist and give the rest of this ill-conceived creation a miss.