Fever 333 is a band that has never shone away from the light when it comes to speaking their minds, and with the legendary Jason Aalon as their mouthpiece, they have become synonymous as one of the alternative scene’s strongest voices against systemic racism, injustice, and wrongdoing. However, while Darker White arrives at an especially troublesome time in world politics, it also comes following a period of difficulty for the band themselves, with founding members Aric and Stephen leaving the band due to a number of creative issues.
Down to one, Aalon went about recruiting some new members, with Brandon Davis (guitar), April Kae (bass), and Thomas Pridgen(drums) now joining the group. But with a follow-up to the band’s immense 2019 release STRENGTH IN NUMB333RS being so highly anticipated, does DARKER WHITE deliver?
The opening song ‘NEW WEST ORDER’ immediately sets the tempo for the album as the bone-rattling bass kicks in. The track is an emotive one, with Aalon re-declaring his love for the 333, as well as describing how the band has got to where it is today. The raw screams of “Let ’em know there’s a fever coming” in each chorus can only be described as a battle cry, which feels apt when one considers the volatility of today’s political landscape, and the backlash such openly-spoken artists and bands are met with.
As the album progresses, it’s reassuring to hear that the fire inside Aalon is still lit too, brutally honest tracks like ‘BULL & A BULLET’ lays bare the state of the American justice system, while ‘MURDERERS’ highlights the crucially important topic of the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
Experimentation is much more rife on this album, but most present on the incredible ‘MOB MUSIC PT 2′, which consists of what seems like Aalon’s take on a 2000s Eminem-style flow. But this doesn’t mean that every song lands so well.
‘$WING’, despite the sum of its ferocity, is more of a swing and a miss. Its fury is aimless and much of the main lyrical content does little to incite that inner rage that Fever 333 has become so apt at being able to harness. Meanwhile, ‘DESERT RAP’ feels perhaps slightly too polished to belong on a Fever 333 album, especially when there’s a sincere lack of lyrical snarl to provide any sort of juxtaposition to the gleaming sound.
In fact, the further you sink your teeth into the album, the more it becomes harder to digest. Fever has been fighting the good fight for some time now, and while this latest album has been a long time coming, they’ve never really disappeared. It’s a blessing to have a band like Fever to turn to in these times, but having been able to sit with their past material for such a long time ultimately makes welcoming in this new material even more difficult, especially when the older material tends to lend itself better for its purpose.
Perhaps it’s better to draw a line under Fever 333’s previous work and treat this as an entirely new band and discography altogether. Sure, DARKEST WHITE might not hit the heights that its predecessors did, but for a while, it was looking like the band had come to an end, so if it means that Fever 333 is here to stay, that can only be a good thing.
