Art of Anarchy – The Madness

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I thought I recognized the style of vocals in the first track of this album, before I had even looked the band up. ART OF ANARCHY's vocalist is none other than Scott Stapp, the Marmite front man of Floridian rockers, CREED. Love him or hate him, there’s no mistaking that voice. This is the follow up to 2015’s debut, eponymously titled album and it’s not what I was expecting at all.

The first track on this album, “Echo Of A Scream” kicks off this ten track trip and it’s not half bad.  An energetic, somewhat toe-tappingly good entrée that bursts forth and assaults the ears with some poppy, trendy rock.  “1000 Degrees” continues in the same vein, with some sweet guitar work and a strong, rhythmic beat to draw you in and get your head nodding.  I like the way the vocals are laid down for this and the harmonies are good.

The pace slows somewhat with third track, “No Surrender”, but it’s still a pretty good song, with some good lyrics and a thoughtful, almost ponderous feel to it.  Again, the guitar work and vocals are superb.  Next up is title track, “The Madness” which starts off well, with almost an alternative sound; the sort of echoing, single chord intro that is popular these days.  This is another belter of a track and already a firm favourite and it’s great to see a double necked twelve string guitar in the video for the song, too. “Won’t Let You Down” is, dare I say it, a fairly melodic tune, although in a slightly annoying time signature.   It does, however, feature some very strong guitar and a very big sound which is most pleasing. Sixth track “Changed Man” is probably a track that sounds most, in my humble opinion, like a CREED song. Thankfully, although I like CREED, this is the only one that really makes me think I could be listening to either band.  It has that combination of hopeful lyrics and a big, dramatic sound, but it is still a really good track.

“A Light In Me” steps the pace up a gear again, with a huge chorus and just a wall of sound.  I defy anyone not to crank up the volume on this, or indeed on next track, the beautiful “Somber”.  I love the lyrics to this slower track and it’s a thought provoking time out from the more upbeat tempo tracks. Penultimate track, “Dancing With The Devil” comes back at you with some dirty guitar and gritty vocals, indeed elements of it remind me a little of the sound that was so prevalent in the 90’s with ALICE IN CHAINS and other bands of the time.  This is probably one of my more favourite tracks. ART OF ANARCHY have saved the best until last with the epic “Afterburn”; this song has some stomp-inducing riffs and some great vocals, sending the album out on a high.

Watching ART OF ANARCHY on Youtube certainly confirms that that they look the part of a bonafide rock band.  This album is a triumphant second release, even if some of the slower tracks do sound a little like CREED, but actually, that’s no bad thing. Overall here we have some big sounds, huge guitars and a good level of production.  It will be interesting to see where this album takes the band and what they do next.

Songwriting: 8
Originality 7
Memorability: 7
Production: 8