It’s been 7 years since the world has had new music from Linkin Park. In the aftermath of the tragic passing of Chester Bennington in 2017, it felt like this day may never come. Hitting play on a new Linkin Park album in 2024 is a very surreal experience. In the lead up to the release of From Zero, the band has announced new members, played shows worldwide and dropped four singles. Yet, there is still that feeling of uncertainty of what is to come.
This album feels simultaneously like a fresh start and the logical next step in Linkin Park’s evolution with the front half of the album feeling more in line with the LP of old, drawing the old listeners in with a familiar sound. By now you’ll have likely heard the singles. The earworm that is The Emptiness Machine, the colossal Heavy is the Crown & the reflective Over Each Other, the latter of which gives new vocalist Emily Armstrong her one solo vocal performance on the album.
Cut the Bridge bares a resemblance to Bleed It Out with its driving beat and familiar vocal refrain. Casualty brings forth the album heaviest moment with a spiky thrashy riff and more stomp than a herd of elephants at feeding time.
From Zero works best in its second half when Emily Armstrong is really allowed to fly. Overflow has a trip hop feel to it, seeing the band leaning back into their bag of tricks from their A Thousand Suns era. Two Faced is brash and in your face, it has a soaring chorus, fun vocal interplay between Mike & Emily and is destined to become a live favourite. Stained is one massive song, processed beats ricochet around Mike’s rapped vocals, making way for Emily’s soaring chorus to come in. It’s a huge huge song that is going to sound perfect reverberating around stadiums when played live.
The albums two closing moments IGYEIH is another heavy one that gives the album another blast of energy in its closing moments. Good Things Go is a sombre way to end the albums, and fits in with the band’s tradition of closing things out on a pensive note. It’s my favourite song on the album and is a perfect example of how well Emily & Mike work together vocally.
From Zero is a very impressive return album from Linkin Park and while it does suffer a little from an identity crisis leaving it feeling like an album of two distinct halves, it is so good to have LP back and firing on this kind of form. Emily Armstrong proves more than up for the task of carrying half of the band’s vocal duties going forward and this album really is a perfect platform for her to shine.
This is an album that pays homage to the band’s entire career; Past, present & future and sets out a path for an exciting new era ahead.
From Zero is out on November 15th. The band has also just announced a world tour, dates and additional info can be found here
