Dennis Feklistov

Mediocre album. Definitely a lot of missed creative opportunities. Most of the songs have very flat mixing, shallow lyrics, and uninspired instrumentals. Notably, the song Reach had a really strong feeling, rhythm and melody they executed very well. The lyrics didn't sound generic or flat and they really seemed to follow through on it. I only wish the rest of their songs stood out like this one. Many of the songs remind me of Unleashed way too much. Both albums have so many similar sounding songs, I found it difficult to distinguish their individual identities if they had any at all. The lyrics trend way too close to pop music levels of repetition and the more religiously themed songs are pretty bare-bones in terms of ideas. They sound like they belong in a completely different album and the fact that these themes don't often seem to carry through more of the album is a disappointment. They can't seem to make up their minds on themes or ideas without packing them in neat and separate corners. I Would've loved to see some more instrumental and lyrical creativity mixing their Christian influences into more of their songs rather than separating them by piano and bpm. Its almost as though they're saying "It's a rock anthem album! Oh but we need a Christian song." When I think we'd all prefer "It's a rock anthem album fueled by our faith and strong ideas!" If they aren't willing to put their focus on a central concept more interesting than "I'm strong/ I will win", they may as well forget faith as an aspect of their music altogether with how simple, isolated and shallow it has become in their music. In summary: Way too similar to their previous album, uninspired and cliche songwriting with repetitive and uninteresting instrumentation save a handful of standout tracks. The faith-heavy songs are treated almost like a mundane requirement and all have very similar pacing and style, for some reason standing out strangely in the album. The pop song-like structure present throughout feels bland and closer to Imagine Dragons than anything uniquely Skillet. Seems like Skillet needs to find its creative identity again. Songs I liked: You Ain't Ready Strong and powerful instrumentals without sounding flat/same-ey Reach Breaks the monotony, strong rhythm, mixing and melody Songs I didn't like: This is the Kingdom - Sounded way too cliche