Anthems for the Damned: Filter

By Kate Xian

The fourth studio album by hard-rockers Filter returns with Anthems for the Damned, after five years of laying low, Richard Patrick can no longer stay quiet. Fueled by feelings of frustration of the current state of our ever-falling apart planet, Anthems is his voice, his anger, and his resignation of the lack of human responsibility on both environmental and social impacts straining our world.

Doing away with the major label system, Filter is back with the meditative Anthems that asks why in the “embarrassment of being a human in the face of the awesome power of nature,” says Patrick.

Thematically tight, the album kicks off with the single Soldiers of Misfortune, a melodic yet classically rocker anthem in a distinctly Filter skin. At first, I was apprehensive, expecting another drawn out, over dramatic, soulless critique on the Bush administration and the seemingly aimless American soldiers positioned in Iraq. I hate to call it a trend but I feel music and movies have oversaturated us with opinions but no solutions. Thankfully, I got neither from Anthems. Soldiers is lyrically simple, poignant and straightforward. Patrick cleverly pens the words that seem to say little but speaks volumes without pretention and with open eyes. Patrick’s screams or “howls” as he calls it, rings throughout making the single a crowd-pleaser to Filter fans but his softening vocals also does wonders to smooth out the edges.

The grunge infused What’s Next and hard rock The Wake, mix up the tempo, avoiding monotony if any. It sounds like such a menial thing to say, but bad records are usually the records that sound exactly the same from beginning to end. But Anthems has a nice balance between the angry and the broody from The Take to I Keep Flowers Around.

Another standout, Kill the Day is ironically upbeat, with Patrick’s vocals in perfect harmony with the dirty riffs. Deliberately orchestrated the whole album is refreshingly thought out and inviting rather than becoming another one of the overly artistic albums of those who struggle to stay true to their art by ostracizing their listeners.

Anthems also has no shortage of those emotionally wrought rock ballads that is everyone’s guilty pleasure. The beautifully melodic Cold (Anthems for the Damned) about the disillusioned American Dream and the airy Only You are both tracks that give the album an identity and personality.

The three-dimensional album is carefully bookended with Can’t Stop This, a textured soulful ‘ballad’ with mixes of synthetics, echoes and raw guitar riffs. Though vocally devoid, Can’t Stop This is a smooth takedown from the opening Soldiers.

With collaborations from guitarist Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit fame, to drummer Josh Freese with Nine Inch Nails and Guns N’ Roses on his resume, Anthems is without a doubt one of my favourite Filter albums, with its simple honesty and open nature. But Filter purists shouldn’t think they’ve at all gone soft. Patrick still screams himself hoarse and Anthems has plenty of tracks to blow out your speakers. It is just one of their more introspective albums, more thoughtfully carried out, something that best comes with time and age.

Release Date: May 13, 2008