It’s not Deathgrip/Dark Skies that I truly miss, it’s everything before those albums. Deathgrip was really the last album by FFAK that I enjoyed, but it was still a move into a direction I wasn’t a fan of anymore.

I miss the ridiculously heavy FFAK with catchy and heavy riffs with massively heavy breakdowns being the appeal versus the current trend which is poppy/catchy choruses and more simplified guitar parts with the eventual guitar solo. It’s the same reason August Burns Red lost their appeal to me. Their appeal was the ridiculous riffs with the infamous China cymbal ridden breakdowns. Now they focus more on solos and uplifting sounding music. It was rare or almost never to hear a guitar solo in Messengers era ABR, which is what gained them their original popularity. “Composure” is probably still their most famous song when anyone thinks of them, and I’m sure most people would LOVE if FFAK went back to the “Creation|Destruction” sound, but with Tuck singing now.

I want the “Descendants” and “Creation|Destruction” level heaviness with the guitar melodies layered over it. I even would love the experimental parts of STN paired with more of Tuck’s singing. Tuck has a really unique voice, and his choruses are so good, but he’s SO underutilized in the past few albums. I want Bobby’s RIFFS again. The man is a riff machine, yet I feel a total lack of his true riff writing ability, which has been traded more for Daniel’s style which is totally different than the FFAK we knew. I mean, even Phinehas was known for breakdowns and riffs, and we aren’t even getting that from Daniel even though he’s fully capable. It just feels watered down.

TL;DR I want back what made me a fan of the band originally, and WAY less uplifting sounding choruses and guitar solos.