Swedish heavy metallers deliver their first album in seven years with We Are All Born Evil. Fronted by Martin Bengtsson, who was credited with bass guitar duties on Arch Enemy’s sophomore effort Stigmata, the four piece keep things straightforward with record number three.
Your own personal enjoyment of We Are All Born Evil will hinge on how much you enjoy their core sound because, really, that is all they have. We’ve ten tracks here, and they are all very similar in their approach. This was an issue with Lechery’s previous output, and seven years down the line, no lessons have been learnt. There my be a few minor changes in structure here and there, but by and large, every track is a mid tempo number carried by simple riffs. This approach also carries an inherent risk, as each track has to be pretty special to avoid them blending together and the album becoming stale. Lechery make a good go of it, with half of the material here being well written, relatively engaging pieces. On the flip side, the other half is forgettable, which is a ratio that doesn’t bode well for any album. The sequencing of the album is vital in light of this, and the fact that there is some semblance of flow to the record helps to gloss over the song writing shortfall somewhat.
Things don’t start too well, with the opening combo of “Heavy Metal Invasion” and “Let It Out” an unfortunate mix of lethargic, insipid riffs and lame, metal themed lyrical matter. The title track steps it up, with a palpable and infectious energy that builds and climaxes with a catchy chorus. “Rule the World” and “Tip of the Whip” exhibit a good use of melodic guitar lines; the valiant march of the latter’s dual guitar harmony in the interlude one of the album’s highlights. The deceptively heavy “Spineless” manages to weave the melodies into the riffs themselves to give the song a hard rock feel, whereas “Even a Hero Must Die”, with its grand, choral refrain, neck snapping mid song riff and triumphant aura, has enough unique qualities to stick out from the pack.
There is a three song stretch in the middle of the album that doesn’t do it any favours. “Hold on to the Night” explores dynamics more than any other track, but is otherwise dull, with the bland duo of “Breaker of Chains” and “Sacrifice” strikes two and three of this particular run. The limited vocal range of Bengtsson is also a mild hindrance, as much like the songs themselves, there is very little variation. His voice isn’t actually too bad, and has the requisite grit to match the riff centric production job, but spinning the same wheel over and over loses its appeal long before the record has run its course.
We Are All Born Evil is as middle of the road a heavy metal record as you could get. It’s a shame, as there’s some good songs here, but the weaker material and lack of variety ultimately make getting though the album in one sitting a chore. It could be worth checking out the aforementioned highlights, but taken as a whole, it’s one to miss.
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Highlights: “We’re All Born Evil”, “Even a Hero Must Die”, “Tip of the Whip”
Find Lechery online:
We Are All Born Evil is released worldwide on January 19th via Bleeding Music Records, and can be purchased here.
