This is the Welsh rockers third full album. It sounds like one of those themed / story cds about a damaging relationship with an irresistible woman which then turns bitter and sour – nasty! Papa Roach’s ‘Getting Away With Murder’ springs immediately to mind.
Musically there’s a much bigger Killswitch Engage influence in the opener ‘Your Betrayal’ with a really punchy riff and military tempo drumming are to the fore. It’s a good powerful start. Following on is the title track, ‘Fever’. The track has a good catchy riff, decent singing and wild drumming but it lacks a good solo to complete it. There is, however, one on the simple but heavy ‘The Last Night’ which is then followed by my favourite song on the CD, ‘A Place Where You Belong’ which utilises a well borrowed Killswitch riff [if such a thing exists – Ed.] with some good tempo changes and a well played solo with a variety of singing tones.
The next track ‘Pleasure and Pain’ is a good, catchy piece of metal with a heavy riff, powerful drumming, solid bass and desperate singing. You can tell by now (well, from the first track really) that there’s bitterness and hatred within these songs. ‘Alone’ gets nastier and it has a good strong chuggy riff in the middle. The CD drags a little by tracks 7,8 and 9 but 10 and 11 ‘Begging For Mercy’ and ‘Pretty On The Outside’ have good riffs and drumming again and are very listenable.
Overall, it’s good to see a Welsh band on a big label and having some success. I feel ‘Fever’ is a good album (certainly within its genre) but perhaps a little lacking in originality. However, it does have plenty of good moments, especially in the guitar and drums departments.
Review written by Chris Greenwood
