RUSH — Snakes & Arrows (review)

RUSH — Snakes & Arrows album cover Album · 2007 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Unitron
Rush-Snakes & Arrows

Following the darker mood and atmosphere of their previous album, Rush released their follow-up album five years later. With Rush taking long breaks in-between albums, expectations may get rather high. Don't expect the same thing as 'Vapor Trails' though, because Rush never remains the same with their recent releases.

The music differs from 'Vapor Trails', with Snakes & Arrows having more of a variety between heavy rocking tracks and softer acoustic moments. You have, as always, the heavy opener 'Far Cry' with driving guitar riffs, which is probably my favorite song on the album. From haunting yet still heavy tracks like 'Armour & Sword' and 'Faithless' to a great bluesy 'The Way the Wind Blows' and a great finale 'We Hold On', Snakes & Arrows never fails to captivate me.

Unlike other albums, 'Snakes & Arrows' is filled with unique instrumentals. You have an experimental jam 'The Main Monkey Business' with heavy guitar, nice acoustics, space-like sounds, and an ambient guitar solo. The 2nd instrumental 'Hope' is a short but sweet acoustic song. Nothing but acoustic guitar, it's a really unique folk-like song. The 3rd and final instrumental is 'Malignant Narcissism', a heavy track with strong bass. Hard for me not to tap my foot to this song, with the driving bass riffs.

The lyrics are dark, like the previous album. There is a less raw and dark sound to the songs though, making them feel a little more uplifting. Certain songs are in fact empowering, like the closer 'We Hold On' which gives the feeling of hope and is combined with great heavy guitar. The instrumentals, having no lyrics, have to let the music speak. The song 'Hope' is, not surprisingly, relaxing, but the other two are heavy and haunting.

If you are one of the people who didn't like the production on 'Vapor Trails', You'll enjoy the loud powerful production 'Snakes & Arrows' has. Production for me sets a certain atmosphere for an album, and that's why I enjoyed the production for 'Vapor Trails'. For 'Snakes & Arrows' the production fits with matching the powerful riffing, vocals, and drumming.

Overall, 'Snakes & Arrows' is another flawless album in my opinion. It's less raw then 'Vapor Trails', but it doesn't remove the rock and dark mood. It's certainly essential if you enjoy Rush's present century releases.

Hope you found this review helpful.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I don't know how they do it, but Rush seems to always make great openers.
aglasshouse wrote:
more than 2 years ago
As usual, the first track is the best. xD

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed