There is something fundamentally valuable about rock and roll. It's not something I can really put into words because it just… belongs to me, just as it belongs to you and everyone else who chooses to take a walk on the wild side. However it's something that the guys in Biters, with all of their glam rock decadence and pop inspired arrangements seem to get. This is a damn good rock and roll band whose latest offering, The Future Ain't What It Used To Be is a damn good rock and roll record. Furthermore, this is a band who were able to distill the power of rock music from the last 60 years and turn it into something entirely their own. Much like their peers in groups like Ghost the band cherry picks ideas from across rock and roll history, hinting at everything from Jerry Lee Lewis to My Chemical Romance by way of KISS. While they certainly have a flair for the dramatic don't let it fool you, Biters are a band who can fucking play their asses off.
There is a certain swagger to The Future Ain't What It Used To Be that makes the album almost endlessly charming. The guys are constantly engaging in flashy solos, powerful choruses and few salacious lyrics. They understand what people look to get out of rock and roll and they love delivering it. There is a certain endearing sense of joy resonating from Biters that makes them extremely fucking hard to dismiss. They play rock and roll not because they are tortured heroin addicted musicians or because their hearts are broken but because they are dudes who love life and want to share this joie de vivre with all of us. Sure the record has emotional depth, but in such a way that we are reminded of that formative maxim, "Life goes on, man." As you dig deeper into this album you realize that the main appeal is that it has some of the best songwriting you'll hear from an up and coming rock band. Yet rather than sounding disingenous or commercialized the band just comes off as loving and passionate. Slaves to their powerful sounds.
Rock and roll isn't a hard thing to want to be a part of, though it certainly is multi layered and often demands that the listener sacrifice a portion of their soul to really get it. Biters have created something wonderfully poppy, it's not asking a lot from the listener, but if you are willing to give yourself up to it then you will find that the wizards in this band have managed to craft a masterful tribute to the state of the genre in 2017. While it certainly may be too light for a lot of you folks here at Metal Injection I think that upon delving in you find that it makes sense that the same record who helped Napalm Death would invest in this group. The songwriting is simply the best there is and you can't help but find hope.
Score: 8.5/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFY2j22YGJQ
