Album Review: Sum 41 “Heaven :x: Hell”
Release: Heaven :x: Hell
Band: Sum 41
Label: Rise Records
Score: 7/10
review by Ricky Frankel
Seeing as how ‘Heaven :x: Hell’ is Sum 41’s farewell double-album, I feel the need to express my utter appreciation for the band and my Sum 41 journey first. Sum 41 has always been a special band because they were an entry point into punk rock for me. One of my dear friends gave me a copy of ‘All Killer No Filler’ when I was nine or ten years old and I was hooked. I remember watching the music videos for “In Too Deep,” “Fat Lip,” and “Motivation” constantly during the early days of (what was then called) iTunes. It was the “Motivation” video especially that had a pretty profound effect on me. Being a ten year old who aspired to play guitar, I was absolutely awestruck Deryck Whibley’s singing lead vocals with his Gibson SG hanging around him while the rest of the band jams out in a converted practice space that is clearly a teenager’s bedroom. The band was the soundtrack to my inline roller blading days back then (I still have my Flameboy, World Industries sweater that I wore in third grade!). ‘Does This Look Infected?’ was the first CD I ever bought with my own money. Some of the first songs I ever learned on guitar were “Motivation” and “Still Waiting.” ‘Chuck’ was a great introduction to metal for me. It was the first time I really got to witness a band change things up dramatically as a fan. And to be quite candid, it was the releases after ‘Underclass Hero’ (an album I think is under appreciated even to this day) where the band lost me. While I always checked out what Sum 41 was up to, for the most part we went our separate ways for quite a while.
By the time I was in my twenties and really getting into the punk scene, going to shows, and becoming a semi-professional writer in the scene, I realized that I had yet to see the Sum 41 live. In 2019, I the chance finally arrived. I snagged a ticket for their show at the Hollywood Palladium. Much to my chagrin, I got hit with jury duty that same week. By some miracle, I was dismissed the day of the show. And I have to say it was so much fun. It was an amazing way to end such a monotonous two days of sitting around a courthouse.
So when it was announced that the band would be calling it quits, all of this nostalgia started popping up in my mind. I just want to say thank you, Sum 41 for the awesome tunes and memories, and for getting me started on my punk rock journey.
Okay — rant over.
The goal of ‘Heaven :x: Hell’ is for the band to really go out with a bang.’ Heaven’ focuses more on Sum 41’s pop-punk sound while ‘Hell’ is aimed more towards their heavier, metal sound. For a band to go back and revisit their original style and still make it sound fresh is quite the undertaking, but to do it twice for the same release? That’s not just double the undertaking, but it is a very unique circumstance to begin with.
‘Heaven’ starts off strong with “WaIting On A Twist Of Fate,” a fast and aggressive, melodic tune with a screaming guitar octaves that carry complement Deryck Whibley’s signature lead vocals. It really sets tone for the album. “Landmines” is another stand out track where you can really hear Sum 41 successfully go back to their pop-punk roots. The infectious beat, crunchy guitars, anthemic chorus melody, and huge “woah’s” from the gang vocals all come together to make for a track that really hits you hard with an early 2000s vibe, yet it sounds so modern and fresh. Interestingly, some of the lyrics are a bit of a farewell to the listener: “All I need to know is should I stay, or is it time for me to go?/I don’t wanna waste another minute, no, the story’s getting old.”
“I Can’t Wait” is wonderfully old school Sum 41 song. It’s filled with angsty lyrics like, ”There’s nothing you can do to change my mind/I’m getting out to leave it all behind/You had a good thing, but you fucked it up/And I just had enough.” Whibley’s lead vocals are his classic — confrontational and snotty. The guitar chords and bass lines are straight and to the point, nothing fancy, but the are very “in your face.” “Johnny Libertine” is a bit of a tip of the hat to the melodic hardcore sub-genre. While it too is very “to the point,” it is a fast and thrash-y song that has a ‘Does This Look Infected?’ vibe to it. It contains blaring drums and swift guitar chords changes while Whibley’s singing is much harsher and verges on yelling. Unfortunately, after all of this super-charged pop-punk on ‘Heaven,’ the album ends on a softer note with “Radio Silence,” a mid-tempo, piano-heavy ballad. It’s very dramatic compared to the rest of the record and seems a little out of place on ‘Heaven.’
When it comes to ‘Hell’ you can hear some of the ‘Does This Look Infected?’ and ‘Chuck’ eras, but you hear much more of their post-‘Underclass Hero,’ metal sound that the band has been pretty consistent with up until this point. Quite frankly, I was hoping more for them to revisit the former here. The album starts with the track, “Prepararsi A Salire,” which features Whibley singing over some piano chords with a synthesizer effect on his voice. It’s a bit of a random way to start the C-side of ‘Heaven :x: Hell.’ It’s worth mentioning that there weren’t many memorable riffs like the ones you find on “Fat Lip,” “Over My Head (Better Off Dead),” “We’re All To Blame,” or “Underclass Hero.” That being said, tracks like “Rise Up and “You Wanted War” especially are worth noting. “Rise Up” is very rowdy and anthemic tune that features much more of Whibley’s yelling as well as crunchy guitars and thundering drums. “You Wanted War” contains very intricate riffs, more thundering drums, and this huge build to the solo where both guitars seem to take turns absolutely shredding. Both tracks seem like they could fit right in on 2016’s ’13 Voices.’
An unexpected surprise is Sum 41’s cover of “Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones. Sum 41 successfully turned a classic rock tune in a metal jam. It’s a pretty straight forward cover has the highly distorted guitars being swapped in for the sitar and much more dramatic drumming. They made the tune less haunting and much brighter and more aggressive overall. “It’s All Me” definitely has more of a ‘Does This Look Infected?’ and ‘Chuck’ era feel to it. It has a great mixture of metal and hardcore that the members of Sum 41 have always known how to put together quite well. Whibley’s vocals switch gracefully between screaming and soaring melody. The wah effect on the guitar solo and the bridge where the band slows the tempo down and then blast back into the chorus is classic 2002-2004 Sum 41. It’s fantastic. But just like ‘Heaven,’ ‘Hell’ ends on a softer note as well. The aptly titled “How It Ends” is this mid-tempo power ballad, which comes off a a bit bloated and takes away from the rest of the album.
There has been a very interesting trend of legacy pop-punk acts releasing some eyebrow-raising albums over the last year or so. ‘One More Time…’ is Blink-182’s best release in twenty years. And as I said in my review of ‘Saviors,’ it is Green Day’s best album in twenty years, too. Even though ‘Underclass Hero’ was released in 2007, I have to say that ‘Heaven :x: Hell’ completes this trifecta. And just like those other bands’ records I wouldn’t rank ‘Heaven :x: Hell’ at the top of Sum 41’s discography either. However I do have to say that this is their best album in twenty years as well. As an early-ish fan ‘Heaven’ speaks to me much more than ‘Hell’ does. For other fans, ‘Hell’ might speak to them more. Regardless, it’s impressive that Sum 41 shot for touching upon all of their sonic incarnations for their final release. It is a bold way to make an exit.
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About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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