Attila - Chaos
Attila frontman Fronz continues to offend on album seven
It’s a wonder that Attila have managed six albums thus far, given the huge amount of controversy and vilification they have attained. Frontman Chris ‘Fronz’ Fronzak seems to be the epitome of a hateable character, and his numerous offensive outbursts have gone a long way to put him far-and-away at the top of metal’s most hated list. After issuing a video entitled “public apology” in the lead up to Chaos, the Atlanta four-piece’s seventh full-length, you may hope that Fronz had outgrown his outlandish behaviour and is ready to put such transgressions behind him. Sadly, you’d be wrong.
Chaos sees the frontman managing to offend yet-again and in new ways. Lead-single ‘Public Apology’ clearly showcases that Fronz never once intended to renounce his band’s offensive remarks - which include defending the use of the word ‘faggot’ in an Attila track, and printing shirts with the phrase “I will find your fucking bitch and fuck her right in front of you” - as he instead resorts to immature trolling, singing, “I’m truly sorry…sorry that you’re a little bitch” before providing rapping that even Fred Durst would hesitate to put his name to. As he sings “If you don’t like it you can suck my dick”, he reminds of Angry Boys’ Chris Lilley playing the show’s comically exaggerated and highly offensive rapper S.mouse. You could almost give him credit for satirically mocking himself, but it’s likely that this was never his aim.
Elsewhere, Fronz claims that the track ‘Queens’ is empowering for women, despite the track describing the woman in question as being “in the front row with her titties out”. Fronz claims this is about women breaking free of societal standards, but it’s hard to see that sentiment when out of all ways, this is the way he chooses to express it. Classy stuff, and yet the music that backs it up somehow manages to do more or less just as little to merit Attila reaching the status they have. It’d be unfair to suggest that some of Attila’s riffs aren’t at least passable, but their heavily electronic-influenced metalcore is frequently less rousing than anything heard since this kind of post-nu-metal, MySpace-era metalcore was even popular, its only saving grace being that despite its inability to ever really warrant enjoyment, let alone excitement, it’ll never be able to attract as much hatred as the detestable Fronz.
This decidedly outdated metalcore combined with Fronz’s consistently pathetic lyrics makes for a toxic mix of needless music. On ‘Ignite’, Fronz shows off his adamantine confidence, as he invites “haters” to “say it to his face”. On the same track, he ironically claims that “there’s a million fucking bands and they’re all the same”, whilst rapping over lacklustre electro-fused metalcore - the kind you’ve heard many times before, and will consistently hear again over Chaos’ eleven tracks.
It’s hard not to feel like you’re falling prey to Attila’s attention-seeking, insult-based marketing when you go to rant about them, but Fronz and co. have done nothing if not invited a shit-storm of heavily hostile comments over their eleven-year career. Nine years on since their brand of predictable metalcore fell from popularity, however, Attila are still trudging on, and perhaps this resilient, if foolish, refusal to give up is their most commendable trait. Some credit is due for riding the wave of hatred and sticking to their own path, but if you’re looking for music to move you, make you think, or just generally enjoy, look elsewhere.
1/10
