Evanescence is back with their fifth studio album, The Bitter Truth, and the bitter truth is, it’s mediocre. With the COVID-19 pandemic ever-present, isolation and depression are becoming increasingly commonplace — emotions that Evanescence can express well with their moody alternative rock style; it’s the perfect time for them to be releasing music. And, while The Bitter Truth explores some interesting directions, the journey is overall mixed.
Half the tracks are refreshing, unique takes on their sound, and the other half either don’t work or are unexciting. It leaves listeners wishing there was more consistency. The album starts off slow with an otherworldly, techno instrumental track that doesn’t tell listeners what to expect. This is followed up by a few forgettable songs with a predictable sound for Evanescence: heavy drums, guitar bass, and Amy Lee’s signature voice in her comfort zone.
The Bitter Truth warms up in the middle with “Yeah Right,” “Wasted On You,” and “Use My Voice,” which lean into elements from pop and electronic music. They offer a glimpse into a reimagined Evanescence that borrows from other genres but ultimately adopts them effortlessly into the goth rock context. “Wasted On You” has an airy chime that lends itself to the lighter parts of the ballad before bringing back the heavy guitar in the chorus. “Use My Voice” is almost reminiscent of Imagine Dragons with its background choir of voices during the chorus and catchy staccato vocals.
The Bitter Truth is lukewarm: an album by Evanescence that has elements of their early 2000s work mixed with a refreshing new direction. Unfortunately, most tracks are either a big hit or a big miss, and it isn’t consistent enough to make its mark.
The Bitter Truth.( Evanescence)
Chandy is a biology major/chemistry minor who's been a staff writer, Arts editor, and Managing Editor at The Cascade. She began writing in elementary school when she produced Tamagotchi fanfiction to show her peers at school -- she now lives in fear that this may have been her creative peak.
