Filter’s last effort, Title of Record, was a huge sonic departure for the once-cryptic industrial band best known for the searing track, “Hey Man, Nice Shot,” from the group’s debut Shortbus.
It was following the breakout success of Shortbus that founding member and Chicago regular Brian Liesegang departed the group in search of anonymity. The absence of Liesegang allowed remaining frontman Richard Patrick to steer Filter in new musical directions, as the band moved from a rough industrial sound to a more melodic and accessible rock sound.
Although apt to come across as a clich?d rock star in interviews by divulging unnecessary information (such as the cost of making a Filter album or what kind of car he drives), Patrick has an incredible knack for reinventing Filter’s trademark sound into tunes that are crisp, catchy and have replay value. Patrick and the rest of Filter have done it again on their latest, The Amalgamut, which is what the title implies — a melting pot of rock architecture.
The Amalgamut, which was developed as Patrick roamed the United States in his brand new BMW, finds the members of Filter distancing themselves from Shortbus with tracks that are immediately gratifying, but at the same time harder-edged than the material on Title of Record.
The new Filter is best represented in tunes like the lead track “You Walk Away,” which has some industrial hints but is n?-metal at heart without the meathead rapping and clich?d screams that dominate the genre.
Title of Record spawned a somewhat massive alternative radio hit in “Take A Picture,” a mid-tempo rocker with a touch of sensitivity. When Patrick attacked Fred Durst for taking the stage with Christina Aguilera at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards and said that Fred embarrassed everyone in rock with his sellout performance, Durst fired back that “Take A Picture” was an embarrassing sellout track from the once-heavy-sounding Filter.
The two have since made up, as Durst offered his version of the olive branch (a doughnut) to Patrick after Limp Bizkit’s frontman decided to stop carrying around a bottle of “Hateorade” everywhere he went.
Although deep in the past, it almost appears as though Patrick carried Durst’s comment with him, as the lead single from The Amalgamut, “Where Do We Go From Here?” is a heavier, sharper revision of “Take A Picture.”
While the verses of the new single work from the same chord structure as the chastised “Take A Picture,” “Where Do We Go From Here?” utilizes a much heavier chorus that will fit nicely on rock radio.
The members of Filter prove that they can still bring it as good as anyone in their niche on the track “My Long Walk To Jail,” which employs one of the group’s most explosive choruses since “Hey Man, Nice Shot.”
Balancing a track like “My Long Walk To Jail” is “The Only Way (Is The Wrong Way),” which acts as a quasi-’80s track reincarnated as a melodic pop-rock sing-along that will surely become the new “Take A Picture” on Filter’s latest.
Where The Amalgamut falters is in its finale, where the Indian-tinted “World Today” is boring, and the drawn-out track “The 4th” is album filler at its finest. At nine songs, this album would have been excellent (albeit short), but at 12 it becomes a labor to listen to. Patrick and the rest of Filter still have the goods, but they will have to learn to extract only their best material for future releases.
