Linkin Park released their eighth studio album, From Zero, on November 15th. It’s their first album release since the passing of lead vocalist Chester Bennington in 2017. With the new album, the band welcomes two new members including new female lead vocalist Emily Armstrong from the band Dead Sara and drummer Colin Brittain from Skerryvore.
The album consists of 11 tracks, including four singles “The Emptiness Machine,” “Heavy is the Crown,” “Over Each Other,” and “Two Faced.” Its total track time of 32 minutes makes it the shortest Linkin Park album to date. While it may be their shortest, it sure isn’t their worst.
Track one is a simple prelude titled “From Zero (Intro).” The track is whatever, it serves no purpose in its 22 seconds. It mainly just consists of Armstrong’s reaction to the title of the album so basically nothing of importance.
However, the next track may be the most important track on the album. “The Emptiness Machine” gives the listener an introduction to the band’s new vocalist. If anything, the song could quite possibly be on par with some of LP’s most popular songs. Along with side-vocalist Mike Shinoda’s verses, the song gives off Meteora vibes.
The next song, “Cut the Bridge,” made me believe I was listening to The Hunting Party. The mixture of elongated vocals from Armstrong and quick rap from Shinoda is nothing but classic Linkin Park excellence.
‘WOW,’ was my reaction to the next track, “Heavy is the Crown.” If you thought Chester was the king of screaming his lungs out, there may be a new competitor. Armstrong made an impressive 16 second-long scream, giving me nothing but goosebumps as I am reminded of Chester’s 17 second-long scream in “Given Up.”
The album’s third single “Over Each Other” is all done by Armstrong, and she didn’t disappoint. I’m heavily reminded of One More Light when I first heard this song; The sweet pop-alternative tune made my bus ride very enjoyable for its longevity.
However, what followed caught me off guard. As the song transitioned to the next, there was a new feature to Linkin Park’s music: a raspy Mike Shinoda? Shinoda combined his rapping with Chester’s raspy voice to add more texture to “Causality.”
Another thing I wouldn’t have guessed was to hear the voice of an angel in my playthrough. Armstrong’s verse in “Overflow” is nothing but angelic and magical. The chemistry between Armstrong and Shinoda’s vocals is the equivalent of candy for the ear.
It is very impressive how the band still manages to sound the same after all these years. “Two Faced” closely resembles the Hybrid Theory hit “Papercut” with the turntable mix from Joe Hahn. It also helps that the song got a catchy chorus with “Two faced, caught in the middle!”
“Stained” stained my heart, pun intended. The lyricism is deep and meaningful, just like Chester always did in his songs. I love Armstrong’s emphasis on “Stained,” she says it like she means it deep down. If you aren’t a fan of slower songs, this isn’t yours to listen to, however, the next song is.
“IGYEIH” is super loud and gives off that nu-metal sound that old Linkin Park fans love. As one fan stated in the comments on Youtube, “The return of nu-metal, beautiful song, Emily adapted well to the band, I feel like I’m in the 2000s again.” Armstrong is such a genius when it comes to replicating Chester’s angry voice, but also keeping it as her style.
The song had a smooth transition. It’s just like the A Thousand Sun days where nearly every song transitioned perfectly into one another. “Good Things Go” I feel like is the perfect ending to the album. The song is very “poppy” and gives a whole new meaning to the new Linkin Park era.
I feel very confident when I say that I believe Linkin Park is back for good. From Zero has the potential to be a top-rated album of the year, and for good reason. It is for that reason that this album is a 9/10, making it a must listen.
