Against all odds, Billy Talent keeps the torch of rock high. More than five years after the excellent Afraid of Heights, the Toronto quintet returns with Crisis of Faith, a reflection both lucid and positive on the current state of things, but also a new testimony of a group in full possession of its means.
Posted yesterday at 11:30 a.m.
Billy Talent had already set the table before the launch of Crisis of Faith : four songs had been released as singles, three of which reached number one on the Canadian rock charts. The band had never managed the feat of registering so many consecutive number ones, which reaffirms its relevance, nearly 20 years after having landed on the rock planet with the timeless Try Honesty and River Below.
Crisis of Faith wants to be less monolithic and thus opens with Forgiveness I+II, probably the most successful and daring exercise of the group, the ace-guitarist Ian D’Sa ranging from a composition to progressive inspirations, with sequences of complex chords with oriental accents, all of which nevertheless fits together to a refrain whose melody comes to stick in the mind. A superb success that makes the second part of the song pale – we still wonder about its relevance.
Reckless Paradise sets the record straight with a post-hardcore bravura piece, showing not only that D’Sa is a master of the riff, but also a high-level producer, the tone of his guitars being always so rich and fair.
Among the other essential hits that are the encouraging I Beg To Differ (This Will Get Better) and the tonic End of Me – sung with Rivers Cuomo, from Weezer –, note the most recent extract, the punk fire Judged, 1 min 39 s of raw energy that will be possible to see on stage on the 1er April in Quebec City and April 3 in Laval.
punk rock
Crisis of Faith
Billy Talent
Warner Music Group