Sum 41 - Heaven :x: Hell
Sum 41
Heaven :x: Hell
Release Date: March 29th, 2024
Label: Rise Records
Review by Jared Stossel
Sum 41 has had an outstanding second half of their career. After going through personal hell, Deryck Whibley came back to the forefront of the Canadian pop-punk act, stronger than ever before. With every album and show that has come since the release of 2016’s 13 Voices, they’ve managed to improve upon and excel in delivering their formula of heavy-hitting pop-punk and metal-inspired tracks. Their set at the final Warped Tour date in 2019 is still one of the best performances I’ve ever seen, bar none, from any artist. Most bands would continue riding this momentum until the bitter end, but Sum 41 has decided to take the road less traveled: they’re calling it quits, riding off into the sunset with Heaven :x: Hell, a double album that’s been years in the making, one that pays homage to their two favorite genres (part one is pop-punk inspired, while part two plays on their love of metal). It’s a fitting swan song for a band that feels like they’ve gone as far as they can, and it features some of the best songs they’ve ever written.
In a world where a double record would feel like a bloated affair, Heaven :x: Hell is well paced, and clocks in just under an hour. It features songs that touch on the best elements of Sum 41’s tracks while never overindulging and overstaying their welcome. The album opener “Waiting on a Twist of Fate” is arguably one of the best songs in their catalog, an energetic full-blown assault on the senses that builds and explodes into an anthemic chorus. Lead single “Landmines” feels like quintessential Sum 41, like something you’d hear on MTV in the early aughts. Heaven continues like this for the ten tracks that make up the pop-punk-laden first half; you can practically smell the weed and sunscreen emanating from a dusty Warped Tour parking lot on a hot summer day as you hear the circle-pit inducing drums on tracks like “I Can’t Wait” and “Johnny Libertine”. “Future Primitive” and “Bad Mistake” rank among some of the album’s best moments, and are now among some of my favorite Sum 41 tracks.
Hell is slightly darker in tone, given that it’s veering into heavy metal territory. “Preparasi a Salire” acts as an intermediary track, building the tension for over a minute before releasing into tracks like “Rise Up”, and “I Don’t Need Anyone”, sure to cause moshpits at shows all around the world as the band continues their lengthy farewell tour. “Over The Edge” is undoubtedly one of the fastest tracks in Heaven :x: Hell’s arsenal, while “You Wanted War” proves why Dave “Brownsound” Baksh is one of the best guitarists in this scene. The song feels like something out of an early Avenged Sevenfold album, yet it’s entirely in its own world as Whibley roars into the microphone.
A cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black” is great, and fits in with the updates to classic rock tracks that Sum has been doing at their live shows over the last decade. “It’s All Me” opens with a thunderous drum fill before moving at high speed for nearly two and a half minutes through thrash-inspired territory. The album’s final song, “How The End Begins”, despite it being the final Sum 41 song, doesn’t feel like a finale. The album seems to end rather abruptly, rather than with a bang. The track feels epic in scope, yet it doesn’t feel like the grand coda the band has been leading towards. It can be a bit jarring when you’re expecting this to be the final song.
With that being said, the song is still damn good, and there are rarely any dull moments on Heaven :x: Hell. It will be a bummer knowing that they’re not going to be touring or making music after January 2025, but it fills me with happiness to know that they’ve had a substantial run in a genre that can feel stale at times. They’ve never had a bad album, and they’ve only seemed to get better with each passing year. Heaven :x: Hell lets Sum 41 go out on their own terms, and every song is constructed with a massive wall of sound that hits you in the face. Rest easy, now.
