“And I don’t want to believe that maybe this is the end.”
While Sum 41 frontman Deryk Whibley sings this in regards to a contentious relationship on the #1 alt radio single “Landmines”, it’s an apt opening line for what was the first teaser from the Canadian rock band’s grand finale. After over twenty years, the band has decided that their latest double album, the half pop-punk/half metal Heaven :x: Hell (Rise Records), will be there last. As someone who has been a fan of the band since All Killer, No Filler took over the charts, catching their headlining tour with Unwritten Law back in 2002, and watching them mature and become better songwriters and performers (their set opening for The Offspring last year was like night and day compared to their set two decades ago), this was certainly sad to hear. But when a band feels it’s time to end things, then they usually should. And they are certainly going out in style, as this album is an excellent farewell.
And throughout both sides of the album, it’s clear that this finale is on Whibley’s mind. Even when not directly referencing endings, as he does on a few songs here, Whibley seems to be more often looking back in his lyrics with a sense of maturity and self-realization. You can hear it in the album opener “Waiting on a Twist of Fate”, a rousing energetic track destined to start circle pits, as he sings “If I had more time, then maybe I could find some faith. I can’t spend my life just waiting on a twist of fate.” There’s a deadline in his mind; a coming denouement to the days of wild parties (which in reality, ended for him when he got sober) and crazy world tours. Often it’s a second or sub-meaning of a song. “Not Quite Myself” addresses past drug use and the wake-up call to change, but when Whibley sings “Find another way to fake a smile. Just another day with no direction. It’s going out of style,” it’s not hard to believe he’s also thinking about ware and tare the road takes.
Despite these melancholy sentiments, each album side is packed with the kind of big, catchy anthemic songs and memorable hooks that have kept the band relevant for over twenty years. Every song on the Heaven side could be a single. “I Can’t Wait” has that fast, snotty sound and kiss-off energy (“You had a good thing and you fucked it up”) that made the band the antidote to the boy bands and girl pop that dominated mainstream culture in the early 2000s. “Johnny Libertine” might make you even more nostalgic, as it sounds like something from the Half Hour of Power sessions. But even the tracks specifically addressing relationships here come with a newfound sense of maturity.
On “Time Won’t Wait”, Whibley debates whether a quick hook-up (“Heartaches, good sex and some bad tattoos”) is worth the pain he knows it will eventually cause. And “Dopamine” and “Bad Mistake” both showcase a person who has learned to harness self-realization. The former is especially poignant, as the track’s narrator questions their worth, even as their cheating lover blames her own addictive behavior for her indiscretions (“You did it for the dopamine”). The characters here are all messed-up in some way or another, but that’s what makes Sum 41‘s brand of pop-punk so relatable.
This side ends with “Radio Silence”, which again could work as both a song for an ex-lover, or to the band’s audience (“Light up the air, show me you care, cause I’m calling out to you again, but you’re not there”) as they look at a future with no more tours and endless seas of people sending their love back to the stage.
Musically speaking, though the albums are supposed to be split between the band’s pop-punk and metal influences, there’s a lot of bleed-through. “Future Primitive”, with it’s thunderous drums, fast & furious riffs and lines like “This social disease is getting to me” and “We’re all to Blame” reference, could easily have fit on Hell, just as the melodic, harder-edged “Stranger in These Times” could have been at home on Heaven. That’s likely because no matter how metal Sum 41 get, it’s never at the expense of the kind of radio hooks their fans love.
The band pays tribute to many of the more grandiose aspects of the metal genre, opening this side with “Preparasi al Salire”, an electro-choir chant that builds into something heavenly…only to pivot back to a solo piano outro that leads into “Rise Up”. This is a great single; empowering, darker tones but with the kind of shout-along chorus (“I told you I’d rise up”) that feels like a statement for the band’s longevity and overcoming of the many hurdles its faced.
Hell is certainly heavier than Heaven, with the drumming blasting through at high velocity, ominous bass lines (“I Don’t Need Anyone” gives the band’s bassist his most showy moment), and thrash-level screams (“Over the Edge” is reaching for Metallica-levels, though the pop-leanings of the chorus are pure Sum 41). While the pop-punk side was more of Whibley’s show, the rest of the band gets to let loose on Hell. Slick guitar solos abound throughout, and there’s even a little prog atmosphere on “House of Liars”. The rhythm section channels Motorhead on “You Wanted War”, with its barreling charge.
The album closes with “How the End Begins”, a thoughtful mid-tempo tune that finds Whibley looking inward, and wondering “Now it’s the end, we can’t get it back. Why doesn’t anything good ever last?” Well, this may be what the band’s fans are left wondering as Sum 41 say their goodbyes, but they can’t argue they, and the band, had a good run. And if this truly is the last new music we ever get from the group, it’s the best fans could have hoped for. These songs are the kind of closure we all need – the kind that will pick us up when we want a catchy song to get us through our own life hurdles. Or when we want to rage against the crap the world throws at us.
Thank you Sum 41 for the many years of music that soundtracked my life, and for this last hurrah. Catch the band on their final tour, hear the entire album when it drops tomorrow, and listen to the singles here!
The Indy Review 
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