Biffy Clyro, never ones to shy away from the epic, present us with their sixth offering ‘Opposites’. 20 tracks, 78 minutes split over two conceptual albums The Sand At The Core Of Our Bones and The Land At The End Of Our Toes.
Collaborations with Ben Bridwell of ‘Band Of Horses’ (featured on the single ‘Black Chandelier’ and title track ‘Opposites’) and Darren Aronofsky’s composer, Clint Masell (On The Fog, Skylight and Pocket). The first album is dynamic, energetic and more youthful than other offerings. Never one to stick to one mood; ‘Black Chandelier’ and ‘Little Hospitals’ are raw and emotive while ‘The Fog’ has Muse levels of OTT’ness and ‘The Thaw’ erupts into a brooding rock ballad.
This section is lyrically dark, coming from the demons of singer Simon Neil’s depression and drummer Ben Johnson’s alcoholism it’s not an easy listen, it’s fretful and antsy like an eye of a storm
Disc two has a more retro vibe to it with ‘Stingin Bell’, ‘Victory Over The Sun’ and ‘Trumpet Or Tap’ sounding like something released circa 1975. ‘Pocket’ is a chirpy pop punk song, ‘Spanish Radio’ has more than the Spanish name for influence as a Mariachi band contrasts Neils unmistakable Scottish accent while the atmospheric Skylight mixes Sigur Ros-like synths into the mix. This album is full of anthems, much in the same vein as ‘Many of Horror’, sure to sound even better on their March tour.
The issue is there is a lot of songs have the distinctive stamp of Biffy which is great if not lacking variety to keep listeners attention, this means that the innovative songs get lost in this 20 track record. They don’t try and change the formula that ‘Puzzle’ and ‘Only Revolutions’ had, but after such mainstream success why should they?
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