It’s been 13 years since Attack Attack! released a record and a lot has changed. They’re back in 2025 with a new lineup and record in Attack Attack! II and it’s a record that has a lot of layers to digest.
While this is the first full-length record with this iteration of the band, they did release three EP’s between 2021-2024, so this isn’t the first taste of music from the new lineup and “One Hit Wonder” kicks it off with a straight-forward rock anthem that has a catchy-as-hell chorus and opens the record up in a memorable way while the next two songs.
“Dance!” (which features Lorna Shore’s Will Ramos) and “Chainless” are dance anthems that are legitimately addicting and harken back to the glory days of the band and a time when bands like Brokencyde, 3OH!3, Family Force 5 and more ruled Warped Tour and is a fun, nostalgic joyride.
“Walk on Water” is an honest, deep track that shows the band wearing their emotions on their sleeves and is another standout track that’s relatable and needs to be in their live set because fans will fall in love with it.
“Live, Love and Die” is another lyrically strong track that, with lyrics like “A thousand horizons, the future is clear. You give me a purpose, erasing my fear. I drank all the poison so you can survive,” you can’t help but love this one.
Then there’s “I complain on r/metalcore,” where the lyrics are so outrageous and vivid that you’ll fall in love with it. With “I wanna paint your walls with my insides. When you taste my blood, you can’t deny that you belong to me, I am your appetite” and “I’m the center stage, and you’re the light I’m your Kool-Aid-flavored suicide,” how can you not love this song? It makes the album.
“Big Booty Britches” is another one that stands out and features a chorus that we’ve all felt at one point or another in “make my day, I live to feel the pain. So come and cut me off or keep me breathing, lose it all, and you’re the reason. Hate the taste, I need you in my veins. So come and tie me up and leave me bleeding, call it love, I call it treason…The end of my rope leads back to you.”
But then there’s serious, heartfelt tracks like “Sacrifice” that show the vulnerable side of the band as well, before “Jump Jump!” closes the record out.
In the end, Attack Attack! are back in a serious way. With a new lineup and drummer Andrew Wetzel the sole original member left, they still find a way to stay true to what made people fall in love with the band in the first place. With that, they also evolve the sound to make something fresh at the same time.
The crazy, wild, ridiculously outrageous lyrics are still there that made us all connect to metalcore in the first place, but it isn’t outdated at all. What the band has done in the end is make a statement that Attack Attack! is back and in a huge way.
Rating: 9/10
-Reggie Edwards