ALBUM REVIEW: SUM 41 DELIVER A VIGOROUS UPROAR WITH 'ORDER IN DECLINE'

Photo by: Ashley Osbourn

Canadian rock legends Sum 41 are back with their most grittiest release to date Order In Decline – the group's seventh full-length album and second record with Hopeless Records.

Front-man Deryck Whibley put together song ideas during a three year period of touring in support of 13 Voices that would eventually become Order In Decline's body of work. Each of the ten tracks deliver a vigorous uproar with lyrical content that stems from political and personal turmoil that weighed greatly on Whibley.

Subconsciously, his lyrics reflect his reactions to the hate around the world - punctuated by the disastrous social and political happenings in North America. Much of the album's lyrics are inspired by the current political chaos – and more specifically, the man behind it all:

"He is the bad man, but I've got faith, to end this misery, he's got to go." "The People Vs..."

"You're the fool on the hill, we're stuck with you till, we all stand up." "45 (A Matter of Time)"

"But even I know you can't evolve by building up your walls." "The New Sensation"

Whibley clarifies, that Order In Decline is not a political protest record but rather a page ripped from his personal journal that reflects his hard to suppress feelings about what's going on in the world.

From writing and singing to producing, engineering, and mixing the album in his home studio, Whibley, fine-tuned each and every song full of shredding solos, riffs and a steady, pounding rhythm.

Right from the start, the album's opening track delivers all of those things and then some with the variety of instruments and arrangements. An eerie piano carries listeners into the first song, which quickly builds into the rough and raw skate-punk anthem "Turning Away."

An accelerating rhythm continues on the album's lead single "Out For Blood" with soft and loud verses that contrast exquisitely.

This heavy, pulsing beat flows throughout almost the entire track-list until things slow right down on track seven – a stripped down, bare-all song written about Whibley's absentee father, he stated “I never wanted to write this song, it just kind of poured out of me. I tried to fight it at first but there was no stopping it." "Never There" is melancholic melodic ballad on which he shares issues that hit much closer to home than the others.

You and I share the same life missin' out

So the story goes

That we’re left, we’re stuck with a broken house

I know that if the

The chance appears, well I’d have no fears

We both share pain, we feel the same

"Catching Fire" – a telling of love and loss, is similar in subject and feel being more personal and quieter in comparison to the latter.

Order in Decline is powerful, angsty but vulnerable – becoming a phenomenal addition to Sum 41's already impressive discography. With this album, Sum 41 show immense maturity from the high-school misfits they once were – crafting an album so necessary in the midst of our current political downfall. Order In Decline follows in the footsteps of 13 Voices – progressing into the metal genre without losing the distinct and familiar Sum 41 pop-punk sound that fans have known and grown-up with for over 20+ years.

Click here to read our interview with member Cone McCaslin.