EvanescenceThe Bitter Truth

Evanescence have been through the ringer of late–singer-songwriter/pianist Amy Lee’s brother passed unexpectedly in 2018 and one of bassist Tim McCord’s stepchildren passed just last year–and heavy offering The Bitter Truth is an outpouring of agony broken up by occasional shards of hope to penetrate the darkness.

MORE: VOID OF VISION: Something Old, Something New // CHASE ATLANTIC: Pensive Is As Pensive Does: “The Harder Life Is, The Better I Think Our Music Will Become.”  REVIEWS: CHASE ATLANTIC: Beauty In Death // ROB ZOMBIE: The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy // VOID OF VISION: Hyperdaze (Redux) // ERRA: Erra // STEPSON: Help Me, Help You

Over a dreamy electronic soundscape, Lee’s angelic vocals swirl in from the ether before opener Artifact/The Turn concludes with what sounds like a soul-sucking Dementor’s Kiss. Then Broken Pieces Shine storms in at track two like a sudden thunderstorm. “Yeah, I’m a rock star/I’m a queen resurrected, just as messed up as before”–Yeah Right could be a Marc Bolan homage and melodically calls to mind electro-pop outfit Goldfrapp’s Ooh La La.

Feeding The Dark features swoon-worthy vocal harmonies and Wasted On You is the perfect vehicle for showcasing Lee’s gymnastic vocals: “I don’t need drugs/I’m already six feet low/Wasted on you/Waiting for a miracle.” Military drumming and extended, siren-esque riffs kick off Take Cover, which sounds like the lead-up to a chase scene–in The Terminator—before climaxing with a cacophony of calamity. Use My Voice, written in response to the 2016 Brock Turner sexual assault case, was released as a single last year, but sadly rings even more true with each passing globally significant clusterfuck. “Gather your friends and wave your gun in my face,” Lee rages, before exploding, “Don’t you speak for me!”

Evanescence’s first album of original material in almost a decade is the best kind of redemption music.

Elsewhere, Better Without You’s dramatic flair–nursery rhyme keys offset by industrial percussion–is off the Richter and Far From Heaven’s piano intro calls to mind Mad World by Tears For Fears. Aside from Lee’s astonishingly accomplished powerhouse vocals, it’s her stark piano flourishes that bring cohesion to this outfit. Evanescence’s first album of original material in almost a decade is the best kind of redemption music. And The Bitter Truth’s deluxe fan box set even contains a journal, poster, cassette of exclusive making-of audio and bonus CD.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Yeah Right, Take Cover, Use My Voice
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