Attila – About That Life (Connor’s Two Cents/2013)

attilaaboutthatlife

Connor’s Two Cents on Attila’s About That Life

 

Well, like it or not, Attila did a lot of things right with About That Life. The instrumentation is absolutely top notch. “Break Shit,” aside from sharing a name with an unfortunate Limp Bizkit song, features some of the album’s most technical drumming and fast-paced fretwork. Likewise, “The New Kings” features grooves that would make djent-a-holic fanboys of Volumes and Structures proud. Throughout the release, Attila sprinkle in touches of stunning technicality which dazzle like diamonds among the already well-done musicianship and above-average effort put into the musical soundscape of their songs. Even the mostly-rapped track “Callout” features the drums pounding out a solid, bouncy beat while the guitars and electronic elements work together to create an all-too-fitting atmosphere for the odd nature of the vocals.

However, the vocal element of Attila’s About That Life is where the band’s bright star begins to fade. More specifically, the lyrics are the sole cause of the cloud which covers the album’s tediously twinkling star. The vocals themselves are top notch. To put it bluntly, there is not one vocal range that isn’t touched by lead vocalist Chris “Fronz” Fronzak, and all of them are done to perfection–even his overdone and occasionally stale attempts at rapping. The real issue with Fronz’s efforts on About That Life lies in the nature of the lyrics and their content. We get it–you like to party. While it is certainly possible to write 10+ tracks about your obsession with booze, blunts and bitches, the listener wouldn’t know it upon listening to this album. There are moments of lyrical originality–the closing section of “Break Shit,” for instance, or even the questionable but extraordinarily clever “Callout.” What gets old however is the reliance on the same profanities and insults getting hurled at the listener for what feels like millions of times (I haven’t actually counted, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I were close). By the time the listener reaches the end of the album, I was close to committing seppuku if I was subjected to another “fuck that shit” or “ride this dick.” Not only is it boring, it’s aggravating, and even worse for Attila, it’s immature and unoriginal.

At the end of the day, if unoriginal, repetitive and obnoxious lyrics turn out to be the biggest things facing Attila’s About That Life, I think it’s safe to say that things could have gone a whole lot worse. Sure, there are some other minor pitfalls, but for the most part, the excellent instrumentation and sheer bone-busting nature of the breakdowns keep the release roaring along without much else of a hitch. It’s simply nothing more than criminal that how well everything else is done serves only to play up how terrible the lyrics really are.

7/10

By: Connor Welsh