Population Four could have been huge five years ago. I don’t mean that as a major criticism, I just feel this type of music – think Funeral For A Friend ‘Hours’-era – is beginning to sound a little dated. I’ll be fair as Population Four have a huge sound and this album is very well recorded and produced, but for me it’s nothing that hasn’t been covered before and when it’s done well (as it is on the first track, for instance), the lyrics tend to migrate towards GCSE poetry with references to ‘seizing the day’ etc etc
It’s a shame as the riffs, at times, sound huge. The twin guitar attack is used well and the producer deserves a pat on the back for making them sound massive. But there’s just a lack of originality and that hurts them – if they were back in 2003 I have no doubt Population Four could have even bothered the charts and been snapped up by a major, but I think times and trends have moved on since then and P4 sound a little tired and dated.