(hed) PE – Forever!

ALBUM REVIEW BY Michael Richardson

8/10

(hed) PE are NEVER, ever going to be for everyone. Between the rap/hip-hop elements, the borderline misogyny and the conspiracy theory rhetoric, they firmly manage to alienate about 50% of their potential audience before they even begin. Then, their sheer unwillingness to be pigeonholed makes it almost impossible to know what to expect. Like opening track “Live” with seamless transitions from death metal growls, to perfect, clean vocals and Jared’s trademark ferocious rapping style. Second offering, “Pay Me” is, for me, one of the bands greatest hits. Slow, heavy, pinch harmonic laden build up that wouldn’t be out of place on a Black Label Society album, until it bursts into an angst-ridden piece of hip-hop social commentary.

Track 3 blends a pretty generic stocatto riff with some Jamaican influenced vocals and a damn catchy chorus, “Hurt” brings an alt-rock style riff with some screamed, aggressive vocals and a poppy pre-chorus with backing singers. The ONLY way (hed)PE can follow poppy hooks with backing singers, is with Jared’s patented death-growl. “It’s You” has a more traditional heavy rock approach musically but the vocals move from Jamaican infused rap-core to a Staind style melodic delivery. “Waste” is a punk-metal tinfoil-hat call to arms, while “JahKnow” is a great reggae/metal hybrid. “One of a Kind” is pure island reggae for over a minute, until the chorus kicks in, though it’s still a pretty accessible slab of reggae infused heavy rock. There’s a brief respite for an instrumental and there’s a noticeable calmness to the final four tracks. More poppy-reggae and less metal/punk-hip-hop. Less, but not none. There’s still a lot of genre-spanning going on. Overall hed(PE) have done exactly what they have done 9 times before, an album that defies categorisation.

Best Track – “Pay Me”

Check ‘Em Out if you like – Skindred, TechN9ne, Nonpoint

Track Listing

1. Liv!

2. Pay Me

3. Closer

4. Hurt

5. It’s You

6. Waste

7. JahKnow

8. You Know

9. The Higher Crown

10. Shadowridge

11. Together

12. Always

13. Ganja (Bonus Track)

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