Hail The Villain – Population: Declining

I can see a good many rockers really falling hard for Hail The Villain’s head banging brand of modern rock.  Blending part mainstream radio rock (think Nickelback or Theory Of A Dead Man) with a definite metal mentality (at times Disturbed comes to mind), the Ottawa quartet certainly has a lot of deeply rooted energy.  That being said, personally I don’t think the group offers anything that stands out terribly from my early travels in late 90’s radio rock.  And when it comes to their recently re-released debut, Population: Declining, the twelve-track album gets the job done, but feels bogged down with old ideas in a shiny new package.

And from the outside, what a package it is.  The comic book inspired cover and fold out art is simply stunning, capturing a sense of mystery, danger, suspense, and just good old-fashioned awe.  With that in mind, my first listen was a natural disappointment.  Nothing ever sounds as sleek or unique as suggested by those fancy images.  Instead, most tracks have a “been there done that” feel lacking an essential personality.

To be sure though, there’s some good potential for radio play – “Take Back The Fear” for example has enough mid-tempo hooks and hard hitting guitars to lure casual listeners into thinking that Hail The Villain is pretty hot stuff.  But while most songs could be plucked for airplay, they’re formulaic in structure, wearing thin fairly fast.

Picking out tracks for this review has been a laborious process.  With the same generic tempos and similar vocal range dominating most tracks, there isn’t much distancing stand-out tracks from the mountains of accompanying filler.  If forced to pick a favourite, I’d likely vouch for the middle of the road rock piece “16 Candles.”  Musically the track doesn’t take any chances, but it is one of a few with some lyrical passages that actually snapped me out of the otherwise coma-like state of hibernation brought on by most tracks’ inconsequential messages.  The line and loop “punch the clock, then the wall, punch the clock, it’s a longer form of suicide,” makes for a thought provoking take on the so called daily grind, and the rapid fire approach to the final bridge does a surprisingly decent job communicating the unforgiving pace of every day life – but it’s an exception rather than the rule.

From the reviews I’ve read online, a lot of good has been said about Hail The Villain, so there’s definitely a targeted audience out there.  But at the same time, there are also those that will hear Population: Declining as yet another middling addition to the long since saturated radio rock airwaves.  As should be obvious, I fit in with the later.  So while nothing here really offends, nothing ever reaches out to excite listeners.  A competent listen to be sure, but not one I can envision returning to any time soon.