Bride - Fistful of Bees (2001)
After all the musical twists and turns in Bride's near 20 year career NOTHING could have really properly prepared me for my first taste the newest Bride offering "Fistful of Bees". Bride has
ran the musical gamut from classic/power metal to bluesy hard rock to down home gospel and now, in the 21st century, full-blown modern rap-core! The band has labeled this new style "urban street metal" and it lives up to
that name. Yes, that's right. Dale Thompson rapping. A scary thought to say the least. When I heard the first verse of the first song I was ready to chuck this sucker in the trash and pop in some Narnia or Impellitteri but I am
very glad I didn't! Not everything on here is "rapped" as a matter of fact once you get a feel for the overall style you will notice some similarities to the vocal delivery of older Bride songs like "Time" from
Scarecrow Messiah.
It is also of very important note that the entire cd is not rap-core but mearly rap-core influenced on some parts. Other parts could have just as easily fit on cd's like "Snakes",
"Scarecrow", and "Jesus Experience". The sound could be considered very similar to bands like Disciple. Take that style and mix in a little Rage Against the Machine (evident in the song "War"), intense
lyrical "imagery" (akin to Dale's great lyrical style on "Snakes in the Playground"), throw in some Buckcherry attitude for good measure and there you have it, "Fistful of Bees"! The choruses are sung
(rather than rapped) in Dale's classic fashion (at times also taking me back to "Snakes…" era Bride) and are big and catchy. The guitars show Troy experimenting a bit and playing very crunchy riffs with lots of odd
tweaks. With all my reservations and "first thoughts" about this disc, I must admit it is very modern, competent, and catchy. I think if listeners will give this cd a bit of time to grow on them they will find that
it is one of Bride's best recordings to date. Granted it is not as powerful as "Snakes.." or "Scarecrow.." and not as laidback and introspective as "Oddities" but it shows a hard side of Bride that to
be honest has not really surfaced properly in the last 8 years. Although the "style" of music has changed a bit I think fans will find that overall this cd is much closer to the attitude and sound found in
"Snakes" and "Scarecrow" than the previous cd's leading up to this. Dale has always had a knack for writing lyrics that really make a person think and this album is no exception. The lyrics are deep,
confrontational and bold. You might even say lyrically this is the boldest cd Bride has ever put out.
My only problem with this cd is that some of it does tend to be "borrowed" ideas from other modern rock
artists, but yet when you hear Dale's voice and Troys guitar playing it shows that although they might be "borrowing" some ideas they certainly have put their own spin on it! This is easily Bride's heaviest album since
the 80's. At first the cd came as quite a shock but I can honestly say that after two weeks and multiple listens I am finding myself really loving this cd and singing along with every song! Which is something I haven't been able to
do on a Bride cd since "Scarecrow Messiah". I guess the one bad thing I do have to say about this cd is that it REALLY could have been the long anticipated "Snakes II" that all the fans have been wanting for
years and has also been long promised by the band themselves. I hear SO much "Snakes..." style and sound within these songs that it just makes me wish they had opted to leave out the "rapping" and just went for
the hard hitting album contained between the lines of this disc. For modern music fans I don't think that will matter much because this is heavy and very competent. I know a lot of people (and other reviewers) will judge this
harshly and probably accuse Bride (once again) of "selling out", but in my opinion the only thing Dale Thompson and co. are sold out to is the Lord. -- Review by Norm