Pop Evil - What Remains (Gate) [180 Gram]

Modern rock powerhouse Pop Evil's eighth full-length album, What Remains, is the culmination and story of this bands journey, laid bare like never before. Continuing in the recent vein of 2023's acclaimed Skeletons album, What Remains is both sonically and thematically Pop Evil's heaviest ever offering; a thundering collection of arena-ready modern rock and metal hits in which Leigh Kakaty opens heart, mind and soul - pulling no punches and taking no prisoners in doing so. "There are a lot of issues and things that I've dealt with in this journey of Pop Evil that I've buried for a long time," the frontman explains of this document of resilience, perseverance and accountability. Sonically the album is a riotous explosion of life-afrming noise; a vortex of scything riffs and gut-punch drum beats that regularly give way to Pop Evil's hallmark anthemic choruses. The 10 tracks occupy territory that will be at once immediately familiar to the Pop Evil family, but that has been refreshed and re energized with help from production from longtime collaborator Drew Fulk (Disturbed, Knocked Loose), Cody Quistad, plus Zach Jones (Fever 333, Maggie Lindemann) and KJ Strock (Ice Nine Kills, Motionless In White), and the Sparrow Sound team of Joe McQueen and Spiritbox bassist Josh Gilbert (Bad Wolves, As I Lay Dying). "We set out to push boundaries," nods Kakaty. "Metal has always been a part of our DNA, but we've never made it such a focal point before. A lot of writing on this record has been about listening to what my soul is saying and letting the songs find their own path, rather than chasing a sound that might fit in on the radio. I think you can really hear the mood and emotion of the album's themes in the music."