Anthems for the Damned (Pulse): B
Filter’s first release in six years is a solid wartime-themed set heavy on melody and light on original members: touring NIN drummer John Freese and guest guitarists John 5 and Wes Borland fill in the blanks. Now sober, 40 and a new father, frontman Richard Patrick’s songwriting reflects a more mature viewpoint, while the music sounds pleasingly similar to last year’s all-too-short-lived supergroup Army of Anyone, featuring STP’s DeLeo brothers. The acoustically-tinted “Soldiers of Misfortune” and ”Cold” both qualify as top-shelf mid-tempo metal ballads, while “The Wake” and “What’s Next” come closer to the gnashing bite longtime fans crave. But restraint prevails. Download: “Kill the Day.”
