Seven years after the death of the inimitable
Chester Bennington
, the surviving members of
Linkin Park
reunited and introduced new vocalist
Emily Armstrong
on the aptly titled "reboot"
From Zero
. The revamped lineup's first effort together is without a doubt a well-executed, aggressively hungry, and potent sonic statement from a group of survivors intent on keeping their vision alive. The melodic guitar attack and familiar chord progressions of
Brad Delson
and
Mike Shinoda
, the futuristic production and turntable acrobatics of
DJ Hahn
, and the catchy rhythms from bassist
Dave Farrell
and new drummer
Colin Brittain
all provide a high-octane backbone that's instantly familiar to anyone who has ever heard even a single Linkin Park song. Meanwhile,
Shinoda
's rapped and sung vocals haven't changed at all in all the years he's been doing this (¿Two Faced¿ is a highlight). Enter formidable singer
Armstrong
. The excellent lead single "The Emptiness Machine" is an exciting unveiling, a by-the-numbers
assault that justifies her hiring with those throat-shredding howls. The propulsive second serving "Heavy Is the Crown,¿ a synth-and-strings rager that's one of the band's best singles, takes it a step further, with a sustained mid-song roar that recalls similar
Bennington
explosions from "Faint" and "Lying from You." Across these near-dozen tracks, her vocal attack is a thing to behold, clean vocals cutting with a scalpel's precision and screams that can crack the sky and split the earth in a way that scratches a certain nostalgic itch. Throughout, there are nods to almost every LP era: ¿Casualty¿ is a thrashing hardcore rager, like what the group tried to do on
The Hunting Party
, while ¿Overflow¿ is an atmospheric dub journey through space, something that could easily slide onto
A Thousand Suns
. The raging "Cut the Bridge" channels
Minutes to Midnight
, just as "Good Things Go" soars into arena-sized singalong territory like on
One More Light
. Objectively,
is a strong showing by a group of absolute pros that is likely to storm the mainstream rock charts and keep the LP train running for the near future. ~ Neil Z. Yeung