Eclecticism has been a hallmark of Richard Patrick's career in Filter, and it's administered with crushing efficiency on The Trouble With Angels. Fans weaned on the industrial outbursts and corrosive beats of 1995's Short Bus and 1999's Title of Record will be ecstatic to hear Patrick's unmistakable scream and unflinching honesty dominating the new album.
The prolific multi-instrumentalist couches intensely personal narratives in throwback industrial crushers subject to multiple interpretations. On the surface, leadoff single "The Inevitable Relapse" details a shattered man succumbing to addiction, but can be read as a study of love lost, consumption or obsession, depending on your perspective. Not to mention its isolated bass line and thudding chord collapse both conjure and modernize Filter's breakthrough smash, "Hey Man, Nice Shot."