Richard Patrick is a veteran in the industrial rock and metal world. His rise to prominence came with his involvement with Nine Inch Nails. After his stint with NIN he formed his own band, which he christened Filter. With this formation he has released five studio albums so far. Now Patrick and Co. are back with a new record, entitled The Sun Comes Out Tonight.

With their previous album, Patrick managed to get some momentum under the band again after the lukewarm response to Anthems Of The Damned (2008). The new Filter record pretty much continues where 2010’s The Trouble With Angels left off. It contains a mixture of heavier industrial rock songs (‘We Hate It When You Get What You Want’, ‘This Finger’s For You’), more uptempo material (‘It’s Got To Be Right’, ‘Self Inflicted’) and the occasional flirt with pop music (‘Surprise’, ’First You Break It’).

A lot of of the material on The Sun Comes Out Tonight reminds me of Short Bus and Title Of Record, because of its freshness and edgy approach. Even in their darkest moments Filter don’t get as nihilistic as Ministry or Nine Inch Nails.

One recurring problem with previous Filter releases has been the abundance of filler material. This particularly caused havoc on The Amalgamut and Anthems Of The Damned. Unfortunately, The Sun Comes Out Tonight has some weaker tracks as well. Especially ‘It’s My Time’ and ‘It’s Just You’ come to mind. Perhaps it would have been a better idea to drop two or three songs in order to improve the overall cohesiveness of this album.

The Sun Comes Out Tonight may not be the best release you’ll hear this year, but it still has plenty to offer in terms of memorable songs and sheer fun. Therefore a solid release, nothing more and certainly nothing less.

7/10

Raymond Westland