Sum 41 honour their 27-year career with Heaven :x: Hell, a 20-track double album, due to be their final, without a single skip. Harking back to their widely acclaimed debut All Killer No Filler, the album that gave us “Fat Lip” and “In Too Deep”, the band have maintained their commitment to making every track count with Heaven :x: Hell.
“Waiting On a Twist of Fate” opens Heaven with as much energy as you can cram into 2 minutes and 46 seconds, and the early-2000s Pop Punk summer nostalgia does not falter in the 19 tracks that follow. Although Hell aims to dive deeper into heavy metal than Pop Punk, the distinction between the two sides of the album is minimal. Hell’s “Over the Edge” could have been plucked from the iPod of a Californian skater in 2004 as easily as Heaven’s “Landmines” or “Dopamine” could have been. The recreation of such a specific vibe is impressive but bittersweet following the announcement of the band’s break up earlier this year.
There are reflective moments amongst the fun, Heaven closes with ballad “Radio Silence”, and Hell with “How the End Begins” which aptly asks “now it’s the end, we can’t get it back, why doesn’t anything good ever last?”. the “Paint It Black” cover feels like a version from Green Day’s 1994 album Dookie, and “Johnny Libertine” like something by NOFX. These moments add to what feels like a thorough celebration.
As a parting gift, Heaven :x: Hell serves fans a very decent portion of brand new Pop Punk that sounds fresh out of the last turn of the millennium, and the excitement around the singles that have been released is a loud “thank you”. Both a homage to their career and a stand-alone enjoyable album, Heaven :x: Hell is a high energy, fun and skillful way to say goodbye.
