Album/EP

The Fever 333 - Made An America (EP Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

/10

Mar 31, 2018

7 min read

The Fever 333 - Made An America EP
Released: March 23rd, 2018

Lineup

Jason Aalon Butler // Vocals
Aric Improta // Drums
Stephen Harrison // Guitar

Online

Facebook
Twitter
Website

When we first heard/wrote about The Fever 333 there were a lot of questions buzzing around the new group featuring former letlive. frontman Jason Aalon Butler who started the band with the former drummer for The Chariot, Aric Improta and guitarist Stephen Harrison of Night Verses. The band emerged with a clear but heavy as fuck message, they won't back down from the US Police Forces until their message is heard, kind of like a new age Rage Against The Machine style setup. Then when they teamed up with producer John Feldmann, we knew it was only a matter of time before they took the world by storm. Last week they surprise released their debut Made An America EP and we've finally gotten around to reviewing it for you...

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HePQdRtQtY&w=640&h=360]

Kicking off with the title track 'Made An America', the previous songs we've heard are blown out of the water as this one sounds so much fuller (as expected with a proper studio quality song) and is catchy as fuck. Jason Butler's melodic singing is at it's absolute best and his screams towards the end of the song are spine-chillingly gooood. It's riff-heavy, fast paced and Aric Improta's drumming is next level. I couldn't ask for anything else on this song to be different, it is a perfect representation of the band and their battle, especially with lyrics like "NO STARS DEAD BODIES ON THE BOULEVARD/COP CARS, TRUE KILLERS, AND THEY'RE STILL AT LARGE" just screaming out about the injustice people of colour are facing in the US when it comes to deaths caused by the police, it's an unofficial, "no fucks given" theme song to the #BlackLivesMatter movement and its as hardhitting as it is heavy.

The band's debut song 'We're Coming In' is up next and even though it's been out for almost a year I still get a kick out of it with every listen. Once again, continuing with the theme/message of injustice, the hard-hitting and thought-provoking lyrics of So let me tell you about where all my people from where all my people from/We hear them sirens come and then the people run. Combine that with the rawness of the band's hard rock synth background sounds, Jason's screams and Stephen Harrison's heavy playing and you've got the makings of a #1 hit song, if mainstream even picked up on it. Coming up next we've got the band's first cameo appearance with Yelawolf dropping his vocals on the song '(The First Stone) Changes' which combines rap/hip-hop styles with electro hard rock. One thing that has been taking the heavy music scene by storm lately is genre crossing which in many cases recently, works so well that you almost can't class a song/band into a certain category, this is another example of how this works well. As someone who can't stand the current state of rap-hip hop (with all that mumble rap shit), this is something that could bring me back to the genre. Yelawolf and Butler bounce back and forth throughout in a kind of yin/yang style getting their point across about the time being now to make a change in society. I dig it, you will too.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCKC77vHRAU&w=640&h=360]

This is where the EP gets better with the addition of Travis Barker guest drumming on 'Hunting Season' and that's exactly where the focus is on this track. Everything has been stripped back to a drum beat, synth SFX and a combination of clean rapping and raw screams. But all that changes when 'Soul'd Me Out' kicks in and we've got that studio quality sound back again, with plenty of influences from letlive. in this one that'll please longtime fans who have been waiting to hear something similar to Jason Butler's previous work. At 2:46 in length, this moshpit inducing banger will leave you wanting more and when they eventually make it down under, will be guaranteed to get you moving and ramming into everyone/thing close to the stage. 'Walking In My Shoes' follows and it slows things down again serving as a stand your ground song for those wanting to make a change, with the lyrics So when you make, make, Your noise/Make sure you turn it up/Break, break/The walls they build/We ain't stuck encouraging a rebellion to fight back against the doubters and wrongdoers. Wrapping up the EP is 'POV', yet another hard hitting, "no fucks given" track about standing your ground. The only thing missing from this one is one is more involvement from the band, the drums are limited to background noise only with the main focus being on the singing/screaming. This one had the potential to be an absolute short but in your face closer, but unfortunately it was lacking that additional input.

The Fever 333's debut Made An America EP is raw, hard-hitting and in your face, but not only will it get your blood pumping and body moving, hopefully you'll learn a thing or two about the cause and movement behind the band and how they intend to use their voices for the greater good of Americans and those feeling the impacts of authority injustice around the world. This release also proves why the band recently were signed to Roadrunner Records after less than a year of making their mark upon the world.