"Between Hope & Disillusion" is the 2nd album by Devon based (for the majority of the band) UK rockers The Fallen State. I have been following this band ever since I saw them support Tremonti 4 years ago. Back then they only had a couple of EPs out where as now not only have they released their excellent debut album "A Deadset Endeavour", but now in 2022 they have their second album "Between Hope & Disillusion". And as album titles go it sounds like it could not be more appropriate for what the band has gone through the last couple of years.
The challenges of covid were there for all bands and The Fallen State were no different. But on top of this lead singer Ben Stenning decided to part ways from the band. From the outside it didn't look like this was a rock and roll bust up of egos by any stretch. But just someone looking to follow a different path and the rest of the band respected that. It did leave a hole in the band and a choice by the rest of the band of what to do with the band. They clearly still wanted to make music so they had the option of getting a new singer in and either go under a different name or continue the name and get a singer in who could sing the old songs too.
The first option of changing the name of the band was basically what happened to Creed when they split up and three-quarters of the group went onto form Alter Bridge and got Myles into to sing. Then the other option was to continue the name like Iron Maiden have done multiple times in their history having many different frontmen. The key is that changing the band name leaves the rest of the catalogue behind whereas keeping the name doesn't. So clearly The Fallen State decided to keep the name and brought in Adam Methven on lead vocals.
It's a difficult position to fill, Afterall the lead singer has such a big job connecting with fans both during shows and interviews. And Ben is someone who did that amazingly. But I have to say the way Adam has filled Ben's shoes has been amazing. His videos and posts on social media have shown someone who really wants to be part of the band and be at one with the community The Fallen State have created. But more importantly he has the vocals which fit like a glove to The Fallen State's sound.
One noticeable thing about this album is how good Adam's vocal performances are on here. And I don' just mean his range. I'm talking about the way he delivers the vocals. Round every corner on this album, he delivers the vocals in different patterns all the way through, and it keeps the songs and the album as a whole interesting. None more so than "Mirrors". This is the longest track The Fallen State have ever done and it's so good, if you weren't looking at the time, it doesn't feel like 6 minutes. But the journey you are taken on here both the vocals and instrumentally is amazing. Normally with rock songs this long you would find a winding guitar solo to fill some of the time, but Adam's varying vocals dominate more than anything which makes it different. My favourite bit is the Oceansize style vocal later in the song. I think though it shows you don't need a guitar solo to make an epic rock track.
Obviously with this album Adam was going to be the big news story, being the new frontman and whether he could adapt. But the rest of the members deserve their due too. It takes a team effort to make an album this good. This album starts with "Running from the Sun" which comes out the traps all guns blazing, and the relentlessness continues for the first four tracks - "Wolves", "Knives" and "River". "River" is my favourite track at the moment. But they are all just really good rock tracks with great riffs. "Mirror" comes next and acts well as the centrepiece of the album. Then the back end of the album you have "Standing Tall", "Take it from Me", "Gallows", "Can't Get Through to You" and "Ammunition".
"Take it from Me" feels to me like the heaviest song they have done. "Ammunition" is not quite epic closer as "Fragments" was to their debut album. But still a good track. I think the thing about this album is that there are so many songs on here they could release as singles as they sound massive. I wouldn't say there are many you could call album tracks and definitely no filler. This puts them in good stead for live shows having already released that stunning debut and this effort is certainly on a par. It would be good to see them hopefully land some big support slots to get them some more recognition. They are too good not to be getting more notice.
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