How Does That Grab You? - Spiritbox's "Eternal Blue"

February 6, 2022

The collective mass behind the engine driving this album’s hype train could have formed its own universe. I default to pessimism, so I was quite wary of its ability to meet the hype. After my first listen, I felt justified: It was good, but only a track or two stood out.

Over the next week, “Sun Killer” wouldn’t leave my head. “Yellowjacket” rattled around for a while. Then “Holy Roller.” Finally, I gave it another chance. It clicked. I understood why I’d heard it might be the biggest metal debut since LINKIN PARK’s “Hybrid Theory.”

The interplay between Mike Shinoda’s rapping and Chester Bennington’s singing is partially why “Hybrid Theory” is so memorable. “Eternal Blue” is memorable for marrying ethereal melodies and withering growls. Courtney LaPlante does both.

“Sun Killer” opens the album with vocals like a lion’s jaw: delicate enough to carry a melody but powerful enough to destroy. If you doubt that power, wait until “Silk In The Strings.” The vocal drop at the end of the line “as if the flame was a sycophant” could stop a 500-ton train. “Constance” is LaPlante’s closing argument for why she is one of the best contemporary vocalists in the rock or metal scene.

Underrating this originally was a crime. So I’m doing penance right now by writing about this album. It is penance I am happy to do, but penance nonetheless. Here’s to what Spiritbox do next. I am prepared to engineer my own hype train for their next release if need be.

Highlights:

• “Sun Killer:” You thought this would be a calm song? You thought wrong.

• “Silk in the Strings:” The interplay between Mike Stringer’s guitar and LaPlante’s vocals are on full display here. Combined, they make a brutal track.

• “Holy Roller:” This is the heterogeneity I wanted to hear. “Holy Roller” is the heaviest track before the album tacks back into calmer waters, but it’s a memorable crest.

• “Constance:” This track is a grower. If “Eternal Blue” is a bell curve, “Constance” is the downward slope to calm introspection. Musically it’s metal, and lyrically it’s heavy, but after extreme metal songs like “Holy Roller” and “Silk In The Strings,” it is the perfect album closer.