Better Noise Music [Release date 16.04.21]

Escape the fate have shaken off their bad boy image and this album, ‘Chemical WarFare’ sees them reinvigorated and enthused – if you like rock n roll, I’ll be amazed if you don’t enjoy this – I hear influences such as Shinedown and absolutely think this is worthy of a place in the new world of rock attracting new more diverse audiences.

They might be over a decade into their young career, but they have been proven to move crowds equally at major rock radio festivals, the legendary Vans Warped Tour, or on the road with Five Finger Death Punch.

“I hope that people think of Escape The Fate as a good time, but a good time in a better way,” singer Craig Mabbitt explains. “We want people to connect deeply with the music and disappear in it. Get lost and then return from the album, or show, feeling inspired about themselves. We want to make people feel better about life, to know they can take on all of its hardships. That’s what the music does for us as a band. That’s what we want it to do for the audience, too.”

Mabbitt, Thrasher, TJ Bell, and Robert Ortiz have each been making music, and on the road, before they were old enough to drive. An authentic electric connection with the audience is the heart of what the band are about. The guys in the band understand what it means to be broken, from childhood trauma, to the tumultuous downsides of the music business. They know how music can heal.

“I started doing this because music was my ‘escape’,” says Mabbitt. “I was running from unresolved feelings or chasing things away with a bottle. But music was always there for me. The whole experience of making CHEMICAL WARFARE, while reflecting on the other records; it was a beautiful realization to contemplate the power of music. It’s been such an escape for so many people that it puts me in my place. I become so humbled. I’m so grateful, not only that I’m still alive, but that I can get this music out of my head and that it will hopefully help some other people, too.”

Building on the momentum from Billboard Top 5 Independent Album Hate Me (2015) and I Am Human (2018), Escape the Fate have delivered what could certainly be described as their most powerful trilogy of albums.

Made together with A-list producer John Feldmann (Panic! At The Disco, 5 Seconds Of Summer, The Used) and co-produced by Kevin ‘Thrasher’ Gruft (ETF guitarist and production pro in his own right), Chemical Warfare offers up 12 tracks of pure upbeat rock from anthems to melodic ballads.

There are some guest appearances on the album, the acclaimed violinist Lindsey Stirling, “She is an angel – she has so much light in her. But the primary reason I wanted to work with her… strictly speaking musically, she is gnarly – her music is epic,” adds Ortiz. Travis Barker, best known as the drummer for blink-182, makes a handful of appearances as well.

My favourite tracks are “Lightning Strike,” “Unbreakable”, “Ashes” and “Walk on.”

It may be the same band, with the same name, but it’s a brand-new Escape The Fate. “We get up on that stage, we go into the studio, for different reasons now,” Mabbitt insists. “Throw out everything you thought you knew about this band. Chemical Warfare is a new beginning for us.”

On that note, I will close out by saying I very much like this incarnation and if you like your rock enthusiastic, lighter, danceable and upbeat, then try this. *****

Review by Karen Clayton

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 20 October 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 22 October 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
RIOGHAN Hands (Inverse Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)