SALIVA 'Breaking Through'

SALIVA
Breaking Through
Judge & Jury Records

The late 1990s and early 2000s was a tumultuous age for the rock and metal community.  That is because that is when the world saw the rise of the nu-metal movement.  Some survived and just as many faded after just one record.  One of the bands that managed to survive those early years was rock act SALIVA.  Ever since releasing its self-titled debut in 1997, the band has navigated those rough waters and maintained its place as a fan favorite, releasing 11 albums along the way.  This month, the band released its now 12th album in the form of 'Breaking Through'.  The 13-song record is a presentation that will certainly appeal to its established audiences and to casual rock and nu-metal fans.  This is proven through its musical and lyrical content alike. The record’s production does just as much to make it appealing to those audiences.  All things considered they make Breaking Through an offering that will be welcome among its targeted audiences.

'Breaking Through', SALIVA’s latest full-length studio recording, is a presentation that will find appeal among a specific audience.  That is proven in part through its musical body.  Throughout the course of the record’s 41-minute run time, the band’s current lineup – front man Bobby Amaru, bassist Brad Stewart, drummer Sami Jo Bishop, and guitarists Josh Kulack and Sebastian LeBar – offers audiences plenty of familiar nu-metal offerings, leaning heavily on the sounds and styles that made LINKIN PARK and LIMP BIZKIT popular.  Those compositions are complimented with more melodic arrangements that are just as familiar from SALIVA’s early days.  The sequencing of that mix of sounds and styles does just enough to keep listeners engaged and entertained, too.  To that end, the album’s musical body gives the noted targeted audiences at least some reason to take in this presentation.

The lyrical content accompanying the album’s musical material makes for its own interest.  That is because of its own familiarity.  From matters of mental health (which the band tackles multiple times in this record) to personal relationships, to social commentary and anthems of perseverance, the lyrical content featured throughout this record offers its own source of engagement and entertainment, again, for its targeted audiences.  In regard to the matters of mental health, the band tackles mental health in various forms.  ‘Too Broke to Fix’ for instance, addresses depression and feelings of hopelessness.  This is made clear as Amaru sings, “Sometimes I feel/Like I’m just too broke to fix/It’s a reckless taste for anarchy/I live to feel the fire/That the chaos brings/Sometimes I feel like I’m just too broke to fix/Because I can’t sit still/I can’t slow down/When I know the end is coming anyhow.”

On another note, the album’s title track, which follows immediately after ‘Too Broke to Fix,’ finds a subject who is stuck in his or her own head, battling those same feelings.  This as the subject states right in the song’s lead verse that he/she is “Waging a war/That was lost before it began.”  That person adds, “I’d give anything/To escape this/To feel something more beyond this/With every breath/I lose control.”  Both this presentation and that in ‘Too Broke To Fix’ are fully accessible, meaning the message is certain to resonate easily among audiences.

On the matter of personal relationships, the band tackles the equally familiar topic of toxic relationships in ‘Sadistic Love’ and more romantic situations in ‘Weird,’  The social commentary comes early in the record’s run in the form of ‘Cope,’ the album’s second track.  The story-telling fashion of the lyrical delivery conjures thoughts of fellow nu-metal act P.O.D.’s ‘Youth of the Nation’ on one hand and EVERLAST’s ‘What It’s Like’ all while still maintaining its own identity.  To that end, it stands on its own merits, making it engaging and entertaining in its own right. 
 
The anthems of perseverance come right from the album’s outset in the form of the full-on nu-metal composition, ‘Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts’ and later in ‘Fight of My Life.’  These two songs’ lyrical deliveries are polar opposites, with the prior being more fitting for a gym workout and the latter for more emotional moments.  Between these songs, the others examined here and the rest of the album’s lyrical content, the whole gives the album’s specific audiences just as much reason to take in this album as the record’s musical arrangements.

Putting the final touch to 'Breaking Through' is the record’s production.  Throughout the course of the album’s nearly 45-minute run time, the instrumental and lyrical performances compliment each other well.  No one part ever overpowers any of the others at any point.  The result is a general effect that will add to the album’s targeted appeal just as much as the record’s content.  Keeping that in mind, 'Breaking Through'’s production proves just as important to its presentation as its content.  All things considered they make 'Breaking Through' a presentation that its targeted audiences will agree is worth hearing at least once.

'Breaking Through' is available now.  More information on the album is available along with all of Saliva’s latest news at:

Website: https://saliva.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/Saliva
X: https://x.com/OfficialSaliva

3.0 Out Of 5.0