'Deliverance' Review: Fight the Fight's album is all about regaining power and Vegas's versatile vocals
Fight The Fight is set to release their second album 'Deliverance' on September 18. The new LP follows their self-titled debut studio album which arrived in 2017. For those unacquainted with this innovative band, Fight The Fight are a heavy metal outfit from Oslo, Norway, who, apart from churning out a critically-acclaimed debut record, have received a lot of praise for their phenomenal live performances. Consisting of members Lars Vegas (vocals), guitarists Amok and Lord, HM (bass) and Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow on drums, the group has played at all the major festivals in Norway and toured across Europe.
Within the last years, Fight The Fight has toured with and supported bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Ministry, Kvelertak, Hatebreed, Devin Townsend Project, and August Burns Red. Additionally, they have fired up the stage at festivals like Reeperbahn Festival, Summer Breeze and Wacken Open Air. With 'Deliverance', Fight The Fight's new record "pushes the band’s boundaries (if they ever existed) even further into new territories with an aim for a diverse, and experimental sound," explains a press release.
Upon hitting play on the album's self-titled opener, it is clear the band has made metal music their playground. The switch ups between melodic breaks, high-octane blasting, half-beat power grooves and the versatility of Vegas' vocals leave a resounding after-effect: a craved quality in metal music if you want audiences roaring and headbanging in a victorious departure from a genre that can sometimes see monotony. And speaking of victorious, 'Deliverance' carries an explosive sound, leaving you not swallowed whole by bitterness or self-affliction but rather gripped by a need to "fight the fight," and fight hard, at that. In short, 'Deliverance' makes it super easy for listeners to rock out bottled-up emotion to some solid good tunes.
Move on to tracks like 'Dying', or the cocky 'Triggerfinger', and listening to Vegas's vocal range is just mindblowing. The antheming of infectious melodies, growled harmonies, high and low-note scaling are just some of the incredible abilities of his voice and you are left scratching your head as to how he pulls it off on every track. Fight The Fight allow no room for getting tired.
A vast improvement over their previous album can also be heard as Fight The Fight can play in stride to their own perfected confidence. Sonically, the LP is crisp, powerful, broad and delivered with utmost energy and their efforts are felt. Specifically, every track feels like they dominate in their own right and each is worthy of attention.
In songs like 'Turbo Sex', you hear winding guitar riffs, drumming that blast out well-aligned 32 or 64-note fill-ins, and insane screaming that is pure jet fuel into the ears. 'Paradigm' has a focus on providing a catchy chorus and one of many tracks on the album that pulls it off with ease. In 'Pacemaker' we hear similar resonances to Demon Hunter coated with gritty black metal elements before Vegas sings the atmospheric chorus, "Broken stones, fractured bones. Say hello to the unknown. (To let go)."
'Deliverance' is a charging and epic iteration by Fight The Fight that we can't put down. We highly recommend it and remind you not to miss it on September 18.
