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Heaven :X: Hell is the latest release from Sum 41. A double album that should be a swan song for the Canadian Punk outfit, instead falls victim to poor track placement, problems of cohesion, presenting something ripe with filler. I’ll start off by saying that outside of big hits like ‘Fat Lip’ and ‘Still Waiting’ I’m not too familiar with Sum 41, having never listened to one of their albums in its entirety, I thought now might be a good time. 

Heaven -

The first album, Heaven, opens with a bang. ‘Waiting On a Twist of Fate’ is one of the highlights of the entire double album, and to be honest, a very hard track to follow up. Coming in at under three minutes. You see the band channeling the best elements from their early work in each verse, pushing the tempo in a way similar to ‘Never Wake Up’ from ‘01’s ‘All Killer, No Filler’. Serving as a reminder, that next to their Pop-Punk counterparts like Blink-182, and Good Charlotte, Sum 41 always had the better grasp on a classic Punk sound. When it comes to the chorus, the band makes it short and sweet, providing a section that you’ll find yourself singing along to the next time you listen. 

The album then transitions into ‘Landmines’, one of the singles on the double album. A great track in its own right, but the start to one of the double albums biggest issues, track placement. With every track on Heaven being well polished, seeing the band engaged, and Derek providing what I think are some of his best vocals, the air is sucked out of the room nearly every other track. I was finding myself falling asleep during tracks three through five, only to be woken up with ‘Dopamine’, their second single that doesn’t live up to its name. After that it's more of the same with ‘Not Quite Myself’ and ‘Bad Mistake’.

The band pulls you back in on track nine, ‘Johnny Libertine’, but unfortunately it doesn’t last long. Coming in at less than two minutes, it is the best track on the entire double album, and one you will wish was longer. Another tempo driven track and one of the only on ‘Heaven’ that truly tells you, “this is trying to be a punk album.” 

After ‘Johnny Libertine’ the band made me check out again. ‘Radio Silence’ is the last track on ‘Heaven’. The band tries to bring an emotional ballad that, if it were on an EP, would be fantastic, instead I was left disappointed. I felt like the band was trying to take the best ballads from Green Day and Blink-182 and put them in a blender. The result was an unforgettable track that felt very out of place on an album that started off so strong. 

Hell - 

The second album, ‘Hell’, unfortunately opens with filler, which I could say is a theme across the entire album. ‘Preparasi a Smile’ is an intro track coming in at a little over a minute, with a purpose of transitioning into ‘Rise Up’. It is an unnecessary track and to be completely honest, a minute of time you will never get back. ‘Rise Up’ is a fantastic track, and one of two that I really enjoyed on ‘Hell’. It provides what you want from Sum 41’s version of Metal, great rhythm, great breakdown section, and guitar solo that takes you by surprise. 

After ‘Rise Up’ the theme of poor track placement takes over again. Both ‘Strangers In These Times’ and ‘I Don’t Need Anyone’ continue the high energy created from ‘Rise Up’, but are two tracks that shouldn’t be on the album. They aren’t filler by any means, but they would fit alongside the tracks on 2016’s ‘13 Voices’ much better. These are two tracks that feel more like b-sides that didn’t make the album.

Next is ‘Over the Edge’, the other track on ‘Hell’ I really enjoyed. It accomplishes a lot of what ‘Johnny Libertine’ did on ‘Heaven’, being a bright spot on an album that again and again, falls victim to poor track placement. After finishing up with ‘Over the Edge’ I began to wonder how long was left. The next two tracks, ‘House of Liars’ and ‘You Wanted War’ bring a lot of the same; being both forgettable and feeling completely unnecessary. 

The album ends with ‘How the Ends Begins’, a powerful track, albeit one that has an incredibly typical attitude when it comes to a sendoff. Sum 41 accomplishes what I believe the goal of the track is. They do a fantastic job letting the listener down easy, saying “We’ve given you all we have left”. After listening to the track a few times I can say, although I don’t particularly like the track, it wraps up the album better than I thought it would. 

Score -

There are many positives if you judge these tracks outside of the double album. Each track is done well, the band is focused on the music in front of them, and you might even say they haven’t sounded better. As an album it is a different story. ‘Heaven :X: Hell’ is a well polished product that is worth the listen, even with the problems of cohesion and much of the effort feeling like filler. 

Sum 41’s ‘Heaven :X: Hell’ gets a six out of ten. 

Copyright 2024: All Writing Owned by Justin Grevencamp (Atonal Asides Blog)

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