TWENTY ONE PILOTS | Trench | Album Review

If you are big into modern alternative rock, there is no doubt that you've been heavily accustomed to Twenty One Pilots. In what seems like an underdog-type success story, this was a band that most people weren't as aware of until 2015's overnight smash success "Blurryface". Very rarely does that type of success even happen to one band, or in this case duo, that can be put under the rock umbrella, but "Blurryface" stayed relevant with massive hits in "Stressed Out", "Ride", and "Heavydirtysoul", some of these going through the crossover phase and giving them undeniable pop hits as well. Let me state once again that it's very unlikely that this is a guarantee for most rock bands unless you're Imagine Dragons or Portugal The Man who have crossed over. Not only that, but Twenty One Pilots have an incredibly massive fanbase that is fiercely loyal to their group and follow them wherever they go musically. They've definitely broken out and that's not a bad thing for them at all because looking at this group there is a focus on the music aspect. It is not just making an album that is glorified commercial music and selling it out to the masses. With the third major label album coming from Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, "Trench", this seems to be more of a reality as there is a concept surrounding the album's 14 songs with themes of mental illness, faith, and insecurity rampant. It's also an album that was cryptically teased for months before unveiled to us, making it one of the more publicized releases of the year. There is simply a lot of hype around this album and it seems to have paid off in a good way.

After all of the teasers and anticipation for this album back in July, we finally got new material from Twenty One Pilots in the form of two singles, "Jumpsuit" and "Nico And The Niners". "Jumpsuit", which opens the album, has more of an alternative rock style present throughout but also goes through various changes throughout the course of almost four minutes. One thing that is well known about Twenty One Pilots is that it's very hard to define what style they go for. It could be alternative rock on one track, but it could be more of a rap styling in another. There's bits of electropop throughout this album, but also indie as well. They take in several different elements to make themselves stick out, and that is to be appreciated. The curveball moment on "Jumpsuit" is the end where vocalist Tyler Joseph showcases a screamed-vocal style that suits this song very well. It's something that you simply don't expect and it has a good placement with that well-executed riff backing it up at the end. "Nico And The Niners" is the weaker track of the two, and even though there are good lines throughout the song, one in particular being "Dema don't control us", it doesn't have as much of the edge that is noticeable in "Jumpsuit". Even so, both of these songs set up that this duo doesn't just settle on one thing and run with it for a majority of their career, and that's something you'll realize throughout the entirety of the album. 

There were two more singles that followed the release of the pair of leadoff singles, "Levitate" and "My Blood", both of which are unique tracks that stand out in a good way. "Levitate" is a rapid fire two and a half minutes of Tyler Joseph spitting out well timed rap verses and "My Blood" is a good enough alternative track that could be another hit for them. Same goes for the track "Morph" that precedes it, which is very similar to "Stressed Out" and could be just as massive as that song was if it gets released. The first half of this album is where I find myself really enjoying what I'm hearing. While there are two tracks I feel do not work as well on this portion of the album in "Smithereens" and "Neon Gravestones", there are songs like "Chlorine" and "The Hype" that I'm not afraid to admit I'll revisit a ton of times, "The Hype" especially being an example of that. It's the best song on this album and it has the alternative rock side to their sound nailed down perfectly. This album does lose steam in the second half I feel with "Bandito", "Legend", and "Cut My Lip" being fine as they are, and they supposedly do fit the concept of the album nicely, but as song they don't stick out. Some clever writing is present as well, such as in "Pet Cheetah", but there isn't as much to come back to admittedly. The strength of the first half does carry this album though as I feel this would be a mediocre album without its highlights. 

It turns out that the year's most anticipated and talked about album by the press is actually a disc worth checking out. It is very easy to get turned away by acts that are somewhat overexposed and overhyped. We see it all the time with bands being labeled as overrated by many due to said popularity being invasive. However, it's also possible for bands of that variety to put to music that is well executed and well done, and Twenty One Pilots will easily deliver to their fanbase with this material. Is this necessarily one of my personal favorite albums of the year? Is this an album that I will go out of my way to pick up day of release and buy multiple copies of to give to friends? Not exactly, since there are detractors such as some tracks not being memorable and also some elements are not as fleshed out on this album. But, with a strong first half and some pure ambition compared to other highly discussed bands, Twenty One Pilots are a band that I can tell deserve their fanbase, and there is music in them that has quality and doesn't make you feel like you're listening to something manufactured or fabricated. These are two guys who can possibly deliver something phenomenal if there isn't a road bump in the way and that album I believe will come, but as of right now, I believe that the hype is justified for Twenty One Pilots.

RATING: 7/10 

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