F5

The Reckoning

Written by: PP on 15/01/2009 01:59:35

I guess F5 can't be called a metal supergroup as such, but they're pretty close considering two of the members are of Megadeth fame (David Ellefson, Jimmy Degrasso), and while the band isn't a direct clone of Megadeth, its influence can be heard all across the album especially in the guitar department. But a more specific description of the F5 sound is one third power metal, one third nu-metal, and one third Megadeth. It took the band three years to follow on their debut, but here we are today with "The Reckoning", which is actually a pretty cool release.

Basically, their sound shifts between nu-metal chugga-chugga breakdown riffing to thrashy shredding and metallic soloing on pretty much all songs. The base riff is usually simple, something that a band like Sevendust or Disturbed (on their older material) could've written, but you'll also find an awesome solo in pretty much every song that screams Megadeth Megadeth Megadeth even to me who doesn't even know the band too well. The choruses are nice and catchy, although the melancholic/washed-up clean singing can get a bit annoying to some, but hey, if it makes the songs memorable that's okay, right? The problem is that although more or less every song on the record has a decent chorus, the overall sound is a bit samey and it's hard to pick one track over another. Most of this can be blamed on the overly simplistic verse guitars. It would've been a different story if every main riff was like the one in "Final Hour", which is technically one long solo repeating itself over and over again. If there's one song that displays F5's songwriting talent or potential to do so, then this one is it.

While there aren't any bigger problems present on "The Reckoning", it still suffers from a somewhat anonymous expression. Yeah, there's a few catchy songs here and there, but not something that'll stick to your mind or that you'd wanna spread the word about. Consequently my grading reflects an album that has a few alright songs but lacks the final punch to push it to the next level.

6

Download: Final Hour
For the fans of: Megadeth, Sevendust, Disturbed
Listen: Myspace

Release date 23.01.2009
Silverwolf Productions

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