After a double shot of cover albums, Tommy Vext is back with a vengeance — screaming, singing, and shouting at the top of his lungs. It is hard to imagine this man was the lead singer of the hard rock band, Bad Wolves, less than a handful of years ago. His voice is meant for heavy metal and his newest album, “ANTARTICA,” is proof of that.
“Gods and Monsters,” opens the album fast and furious with pounding drums that hit you at the core. Tommy Vext minces no words when he shouts, “fuck the masters and break the chains inside your mind.” He tells his audience that their excuses are the only thing keeping them from achieving their dreams.
So many times we make up vindicated reasons to be less than great. These ‘gods’ and ‘monsters’ we create are simply figments of our imagination, holding us down from becoming all we can be.
“Until We Break,” keeps up the pace without missing a beat. The vocals shift back a little, giving the fans a better sound of Vext’s singing talent. At first, the bridge comes off a bit clumsy, but the refrain hits just right.
While his voice is less like a slap in the face here, the purpose of the words isn’t any less meaningful. Vext warns his fans that the human race is nearing its breaking point, but by humbling ourselves, we can bring about the change that saves us all.
“Panda Eyes,” takes on a nu-metal vibe, but not necessarily in a bad way. This song feels perfect among the likes of Papa Roach, From Ashes To New, and Linkin Park. It is one of the catchiest songs on the album and would be the best bet for a radio-friendly hit.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see “Panda Eyes,” on the soundtrack to The Crow reboot, especially with lyrics like “Is it enough to make angels cry? How do you live when you’re dead inside?”
“Smoking Gun,” brings in a heavy dose of synthesizers taking the listeners back to the days of Nine Inch Nail’s The Downward Spiral and Marilyn Manson’s Antichrist Superstar.
From various social media posts, it is clear that Tommy Vext is a very political man, and this song seems to hint at the overly dramatic climate currently surrounding the left and the right.
“Terrible Things,” slows things down tremendously, giving us the first ballad on the album. With all the harsh vocals on this album, it can sometimes be hard to remember that Tommy Vext has an exquisite croon that he likes to keep in his back pocket for times like this.
Here, Vext reminisces about his past failures and sinful tragedies. Like the artist, we all have things to be regretful of, and we hope that they don’t ultimately define us. It is comforting to know that we are not alone in our remorse.
I’ve done terrible things. I’m a sickness in a world on its knees. I will take what you love like a thief. In my dreams, I believe I’m not these terrible things.
“My Amends,” and “Father & Son,” address family issues.
In “My Amends,” Vext speaks of his relationship with his mother and how he never truly thanked her for the compassion she raised him with. There is no love like a mother’s love — learn everything you can from that love.
“Father & Son,” has Vext realizing that he has the same ‘scars’ as his father. While never pointing out these exact flaws, Vext remains hopeful that they both can overcome these shortcomings and bond the way father and son should.
No matter what family you are born into, there will always be some sort of drama that unfolds. Injury, addiction, adultery, or abuse touch every family eventually, but the relentless flood of love can drown out the demons if you let it.
“Signs Of The Apocolypse,” is a very respectable instrumental track. More often than not, these tracks feel like afterthoughts made to simply fill the space between songs, but not here. This song stands firmly on its own, and at no part does it feel that words need to be added to support its existence.
“We Carry On,” focuses on the the death of a romantic relationship. Unlike the connection we have with our family, passion isn’t always enough to keep an amorous affinity alive.
People grow apart, make bad decisions, or simply let other things get in the way. These aren’t necessarily awful things, but we have to learn to ‘carry on’ through the hurt created by the situation.
“I Gave It All,” centers on finding your completion in someone else. No matter how hard we try, we can never become a perfectly rounded human by ourselves.
There is someone else out there who can make up for our shortcomings and teach us lessons about who we truly are. These special relationships can take many forms such as romantic, platonic, or mentor. Remember, we were never meant to be solitary creatures.
“Meant to Me,” is a retrospective piece that has Vext hoping to rediscover the meaning of the American dream.
As humans, we tend to take things for granted. When things go well we become complacent, forgetting about the hard-fought battles that brought us to where we are at. Oftentimes, our selective blindness doesn’t fade until the commodity that brought us happiness is in limbo.
The emotions represented in this album are as varied as they are extreme. Love, hate, fear, bravery, regret, and hope are all well-presented in the lyrics as Tommy Vext bares his soul to his audience.
Even with the constant change in tempos and themes, the album feels like a cohesive piece of art, capturing this moment in time for the artist. If every word of this album is true, there is no doubt that Mr. Vext is a complex individual.
In this day and age when heavy metal can mean anything from Bad Omens to Poppy, or even Judas Priest, it is safe to say the original spirit of the genre is still alive and well with artists like Tommy Vext.
What is your favorite track on “ANTARCTICA“? Let us know in the comments below!
Listen to “ANTARCTICA”.
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Charles E. Henning
Self-proclaimed entertainment guru Charles E Henning fills his free time reading books, watching movies, and listening to music. While not always up on the latest trends, he is always willing to dissect the themes of pop culture.
