Pop Evil is a band that like many others, clearly does not sit idly on its laurels. Since the release of its debut album, Lipstick on the Mirror in 2008, the band has spent no more than three years between the release of each album that has followed. Sometimes fans’ wait for new music has not even reached three years and each album has been received to its own deserved acclaim. Late last month, the band continued that trend when it released its seventh album, What Remains. The band’s second release through MNRK Heavy, it is also some of the band’s best work to date if not its best album yet. That is due to both the musical and lyrical material that makes up its 32-minute body. Each of the four singles that the album has already produced – ‘Wishful Thinking,’ ‘What Remains,’ ‘Deathwalk’ and ‘Side Effects’ – have already proven that. They are only some of the songs that support the noted statements. ‘Knife For The Butcher,’ the penultimate entry in the 10-song record, is another example of how that collective content makes What Remains so strong. ‘Zero To None,’ which is part of the album’s second half, is another example of how that collective musical and lyrical content makes What Remains a solid new offering from Pop Evil. ‘When Bullets Miss,’ the album’s opener, is yet another example of how much this record has to offer audiences. When it is considered alongside the other songs noted here and that trio alongside the album’s singles and the remainder of its material, the whole makes What Remains easily one of this year’s top new hard rock and metal albums.
What Remains, the latest album from Pop Evil, is a record that leaves plenty of excitement that this veteran hard rock band has plenty remaining in its tank. That is proven from beginning to end of the record, which barely breaks the half-hour mark. The album’s success is due equally to its musical and lyrical content, as its current singles have already shown. They are only a snapshot of how that collective material makes the album so strong. The album has plenty of other offerings that do just as much to make it stand out among this year’s field of new hard rock and metal albums. Not the least of those other songs is the album’s penultimate entry, ‘Knife For The Butcher.’ This song’s musical makeup makes it stand out because it is another exhibition of the growth the band shows throughout the album. Right from the outset of the precisely three-minute song, audiences get a work that is easily comparable to works from Imagine Dragons. That is evident through the use of the keyboards and electronics alongside front man Leigh Kakaty’s rhythmic delivery. This is mostly prominent in the song’s verses. The choruses meanwhile get far heavier, that juxtaposing contrast of styles making for such a hard hitting work.
The infectious musical arrangement featured in ‘Knife For The Butcher’ becomes even more impacting when it is set against the song’s lyrical theme. In the case of this song, the theme in question comes across as someone who has had enough of the negative actions of others. This is just this critic’s interpretation. It is inferred as Kakaty sings in the song’s lead verse and chorus, “Keep me sitting in the dark/In a violent room/With a beating heart/I think that you took too much/And your number’s up/’Cause you went too far/You been racking up debt/I think it’s time to collect/You’re gonna play with the dead/Why would I settle for less/They say an eye for an eye/I say a tooth for a tooth/We can make ‘em come loose/Hand another knife to the butcher/Standing in line/Waiting for the end/Blood on your hands from the slaughter/Cut you down/We’ve been misled/Here’s another knife for the butcher/Running out of time/It’s a lonely death/I can spare your life/But I wouldn’t/Cut you down/Leave you for dead.” That mention of a person racking up debt and it being “time to collect” speaks volumes. It comes across as someone saying the things that person has done have added up and now the devil’s going to get his due so to speak. That added mention that the song’s subject could “spare your life/But I won’t” adds to that statement. This is a powerful statement that this person has had more than can be taken and that the other person is going to get what they deserve. At least that seems to be the case with this song. When such wording, in its power, is considered alongside the power of the song’s musical arrangement, the whole therein makes the overall song another clear example of how much What Remains has to offer.
Another example of the album’s overall success comes a little earlier in its run in the form of ‘Zero To None.’ The album’s eighth track, ‘Zero To None’ is another example of the aforementioned growth exhibited by the band. Instead of the melodic rock that the band has crafted in its existing catalog, this song instead blends elements of melodic hard rock and metalcore for one more of so many unique musical offerings. The heaviness of the verses conjures thoughts of some of Wage War’s heaviest compositions while the choruses, being more melodic, are comparable to some of Sevendust’s heaviest melodic hard rock compositions. That dichotomy makes the this song’s arrangement another hard hitting addition to the album.
The song’s lyrical content adds even more to that impact. In the case of this song, the message comes across as being that familiar theme of determination and defiance against the odds. This as Kakaty sings, “Caution/They try to lay you down/In your coffin/Buried in the ground/Momentum always torn apart/You’re waiting to strike/But now you’re ready/Revenge always makes a good enemy/No more waiting/There’s nothing left to lose/When the clock runs out/Your time’s up/In the blink of an eye/It’s all on the line/You get one chance/It’s your fight/But you’re not done/You will not run/You’re zero to none.” That last stanza, noting that “you get one chance…But you’re not done” is the strongest of the ways in which it seems the song tackles that noted theme of determination. If in fact that is the case, then that message, coupled with the song’s equally powerful musical arrangement, makes the song in whole one more clear example of how much What Remains has to offer and what makes it a success.
Yet one more example of how much this album has to offer audiences comes right from the record’s outset in ‘When Bullets Miss.’ The use of the siren and dubstep against the heavy guitar riff in the opening bars, leading into the almost Saliva-esque nu-metal approach gives audiences yet another blend of familiarity alongside something new. That heavy side that dominates the remainder of the song pairs with the electronics here to make this arrangement yet another unique arrangement well worth hearing and a strong first impression from Pop Evil this time out.
The musical arrangement featured in this song is unquestionably powerful and infectious. When it is paired with one simple line from the song’s chorus, the whole makes everything make sense. Kakaty sings in the line in question, “You took your best shot/But you missed.” This comes after he additionally states in the chorus, “Now I’m staring down the end of a barrel/I thought it was us against the world/Shell shocked/You pulled back the hammer/Load it up to let it go/You pulled the trigger/Flipped the switch.” Simply put, this is a statement overall, toward a person who tries to do such wrong to another but didn’t succeed in the end. It is metaphorical language, but it resonates. As the song enters its second verse, the message becomes even clearer as Kakaty sings, “There’s no running away/The game’s been played/I’m still alive/I’m not dying today/I’m not dying/GO!” As with the previously examined song, this is another work that delivers a message of defiance against certain odds, in other words. When that message is paired with the song’s equally powerful musical arrangement, the whole here makes this one more prime example of what makes What Remains another standout offering from Pop Evil if not its best record to date. The singles that the album has spawned and the rest of the album’s entries join with this trio of songs and make that even clearer. All things considered What Remains proves itself not only some of Pop Evil’s best work to date but also one of this year’s top new hard rock and metal albums.
What Remains, the latest album from Pop Evil, is a work that the band’s established audiences will appreciate just as much as casual hard rock and metal fans in general. This has already been proven through the singles that the album has spawned. Each of the songs examined here do just as much to make that clear. When that group of songs is considered along with the rest of the album’s entries, the whole therein makes What Remains one of 2025’s top hard rock and metal albums.
What Remains is available now through MNRK Heavy. More information on the album is available along with all of Pop Evil’s latest news at:
Website: https://www.PopEvil.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/popevil
Twitter: https://twitter.com/popevil
