My first impression of German alt metal up-and-comers Future Palace was they felt like a Spiritbox Lite. And Spiritbox are a not a band I have any real love for. But the vocals of frontwoman Maria Lessing, the downtuned djenty riffs and faint ethereal electronics are all on brand. It’s a sound too synthetic and overly programmed for my taste, but in fairness Resurgence did exceed my expectations and shows potential.
Maria’s vocals don’t hit the ‘oh shit’ extremes of Courtney LePlante, but she can definitely carry a melody and is pleasant to listen to even if Future Palace never hit that OMG level. This is a rock solid modern mainstream alt metal album that feels like a clear attempt from Future Palace to move into the arena-tier of bands. Their sound is still too computerized for me, but its solid for a record of this style. It’s very polished, clean and ‘huge’ sounding, and turning the Metal Elitist switch on my brain off, there are some fun numbers I could see blowing up on Kerrang TV (RIP) back in the day.
There are a few highlights, particularly at the front end in ‘Deep Blue’, ‘Resurge’, ‘Supernova’ and then later ‘Nixy’, ‘Nightfall’ and ‘Tidal Wave’. Outside of these though, there are way too many filler songs that are easy skips. Future Palace have made some decent singles, but not a great album.
Opener and lead single ‘Deep Blue’ is a good start with a big anthemic chorus that is super accessible but still has some bite. It’s probably the most successful arena-sized rocker. Some of the heavier tracks like ‘The Shades’ end up being too angsty and nu-metal inspired, and end up falling flat and being a bit cringe as a result.
If you like your mainstream, accessible, pop metal, Future Palace should be on your radar. Resurgence is very predictable but well executed and sounds like a band who one day could be players.
Score: ★★★
HIGHLIGHT: Deep Blue, Resurge, Supernova, Nixy, Nightfall
FOR FANS OF: Spiritbox, Bad Omens, Architects