You may like LINKIN PARK music or not, but can’t deny this band created a unique sound. In September, Linkin Park’s comeback single The Emptiness Machine entered the UK singles chart at No 4. You could see that as an extraordinary state of affairs: an august metal band whose lead singer died seven years ago – recently replaced with the largely unknown Emily Armstrong.
Beyond all the shock, controversy and messy discourse, one question remains: what does a Linkin Park without Chester Bennington sound like? And with a female singer?
Well, for the most part, LINKIN PARK have read the room and played to their strengths, because their upcoming album “From Zero” is a taught, hook-laden and royally entertaining album that sonically bounces between just about every chapter of their career so far without ever wallowing in cheap nostalgia.
Emily Armstrong’s voice fits the band like a glove, never directly imitating Chester’s style but still displaying the same levels of power and versatility that made him such a force. Whether delicately crooning on ‘Over Each Other’, which wraps searing ’80s synth-pop in arena-ready riffs and clattering drums, or her throat-scorching, fifteen-second scream on the propulsive ‘Heavy Is The Crown’, she makes it all sound effortless.
Lyrically, ”From Zero” plays safely in the Linkin Park sandpit of vague but memorable, angst-laden hooks. Fans speculated that The Emptiness Machine could be a middle-fingered goodbye to Armstrong’s alleged Scientology links (“I only wanted to be part of something….Gave up who I am for who you wanted me to be”), but it could just as easily be about a failed relationship.
Singer & producer Mike Shinoda lamenting that he’s “Stuck on repetitions that are only hypothetical” amidst Cut The Bridge’s bouncy riffs and stuttered guitar licks reads like a frustrated take on Linkin Park’s hiatus, but we may never know.
What is certain is that fans of Linkin Park’s heavier, more urgent side are well represented, whether via Casualty’s pleasantly surprising burst of buzzy punk rock or the pure nu metal rage of IGYEIH and Two Faced, the latter packing some vintage Joe Hahn scratches and a furious, pit-ready ‘Stop yelling at me!’ refrain. Not that From Zero isn’t packing some serious sheen elsewhere: Overflow is a marching, stadium-sized electro-pop anthem.
Whether that’ll float your boat depends entirely on what you want from this record, but what’s in little doubt is that Shinoda and the band navigate these waters well and make these potentially disparate pieces fit snugly.
Will it be all enough to silence the cynics? Only time will tell. What’s clear, at least, is that Linkin Park have crafted both an earnest tribute to their own legacy and a genuinely solid album worthy of their canon.
The future suddenly looks brighter for LP. If you like this band, “From Zero” will make your day.
01. From Zero (Intro)
02. The Emptiness Machine
03. Cut The Bridge
04. Heavy Is the Crown
05. Over Each Other
06. Casualty
07. Overflow
08. Two Faced
09. Stained
10. IGYEIH
11. Good Things Go
Emily Armstrong – lead vocals
Colin Brittain – drums
Brad Delson – guitars, backing vocals
Dave "Phoenix" Farrell – bass, backing vocals
Joe Hahn – samples, programming, backing vocals
Mike Shinoda – keyboards, backing vocals, programming, rap vocals, lead vocals
Linkin Park – From Zero 2024 + FLAC CD
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