“And I don’t wanna believe / That maybe this is the end” – well, neither do we, Deryck. The opening words of ‘Landmines’ – the lead single taken from ‘Heaven :x: Hell’ – echo the feelings of every Sum 41 fan upon hearing last May’s news that the Canadian pop-punk kings would be calling it quits, with one last album and world tour.
Whilst Deryck Whibley and co. may have ruled the genre for nearly three decades, it’s been a period full of challenges. Hospitalised on multiple occasions following serious alcohol abuse and pneumonia, Whibley’s renaissance from “near-death” is an inspirational story. Crucially, the quintet are in a position to bow out on their own terms, with a showpiece double LP that pays homage to each preceding Sum 41 album across its 20 tracks.
A fitting soundtrack for the beginning of the end, ‘Landmines’ is the band’s finest work since the noughties: vintage, snappy pop-punk. Part one of the album – ‘Heaven’ – revisits this sound for a victory lap. ‘I Can’t Wait’ and ‘Time Won’t Wait’ are a welcome throwback to their seminal albums ‘All Killer, No Filler’ (2001) and ‘Does This Look Infected?’ (2002), while ‘Not Quite Myself’ and ‘Bad Mistake’ shine a candid light on Whibley’s struggles: “I’m just hanging by a thread / I guess I could use some help.”
Viewed in isolation, ‘Heaven’ is a pretty sublime pop-punk record. Its little brother, ‘Hell’, yields more mixed results, continuing the metal-infused sound Sum 41 have veered towards in recent years. ‘I Don’t Need Anyone’ has a slight identity crisis, refusing to fully commit to the stadium-rock it teases, while the forgettable riff of ‘House Of Liars’ sails straight over our heads, even if the lyric “Cheers for the memories” is a sentiment we can all agree with.
However, the empowering ‘Rise Up’ is a highlight, its venomous breakdown injecting life into ‘Hell’, before a rather random yet refreshing cover of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It, Black’ is thrown in – sped up for good measure. Closing track ‘How The End Begins’ is an impassioned ending to their story, not a million miles apart from Linkin Park’s ‘What I’ve Done’. Truly a melting pot of soundscapes cherry-picked from their career, ‘Heaven :x: Hell’ is a fitting last hurrah for a band who sealed their place in history long ago.
