And so, beyond all the shock, delight, controversy and messy discourse, one question remains: what does a Linkin Park without Chester Bennington sound like? Well, for the most part, LP have read the room and played to their strengths, because 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.
The album’s first single, The Emptiness Machine, already feels like a modern classic. A slice of energetic, Meteora-style alt metal with a monstrous chorus, it perfectly encapsulates From Zero’s running theme: this is still Linkin Park, just not quite the one you remember.
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. Mike Shinoda, meanwhile, leans back into the easy-listening rapping that he made his name with, though he still gets his singing kicks in when the moment calls for it. On the occasions their voices collide, it makes for some killer harmonies, the chemistry that was vital to this whole thing working very much intact.
Lyrically, From Zero plays safely in the LP 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. 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 that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Twenty One Pilots album; Stained channels Imagine Dragons by way of Sia. Whether that’ll float your boat depends entirely on what you want from this record, but what’s in little doubt is that Shinoda et al 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 great album worthy of their canon. The future suddenly looks brighter.
From Zero is out Friday November 15 via Warner
