Heavy is the Crown: Linkin Park return

Hey, this is what you asked foooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Linkin Park and I have quite a long history.

I’ve referenced my nu-metal era a few times, and Linkin Park were a big part of that, their rap-metal combo resonating with a young adult me looking for outlets for his anger and disillusionment and feelings.

Hybrid Theory (2000) was the first LP LP I came across, and I embraced it wholeheartedly, expressing my rage by loudly singing along to the refrain in “One Step Closer” (‘I’m one step closer to the edge and I’m about to break’ is the thinking man’s ‘give me something to break, how about your fuckin face’) and believing myself to be cultured because “In The End” had a piano part.

I bought it’s mega-hit follow-up Meteora (2003) on its first day of release and thrashed it to death. Literally, my CD copy got so scratched up that it wouldn’t play any longer. Or, I should say, won’t play any longer; I still have it somewhere.

And like a big chunk of the group’s fanbase, I listened faithfully as the albums started to decline in quality. 2007’s Minutes To Midnight was disappointingly soft but overall pretty good; I saw them live on the MTM tour back in 2007, with Chris Cornell opening. 2010’s A Thousand Suns was an even bigger letdown. And by the time 2012’s Living Things dropped, I was so disappointed with the group that I summed up my feelings with a single image:

By the time Chester Bennington died in 2017, I’d been off the Linkin Park bandwagon for a while. It didn’t hit me any less though, especially coming just two months after the passing of Chris Cornell, one of my favourite musicians.

I haven’t really listened to Linkin Park all that much in the time since. When I do, I go back to those first three albums and can appreciate them for what they are to me now: a reminder of a much more naive version of myself, and a helluva lot of fun to listen to. Plus, I’ve come to believe “The Little Things Give You Away”, the closer from Minutes To Midnight, is one of their best songs.

Given my relative disconnection from the group, I was surprised a couple of weeks when a new single dropped and a new singer was announced.

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I’ve mostly tried to steer clear of the online discourse about all of this.

In summary: following a countdown on their website and socials, Linkin Park livestreamed an announcement that they had recruited a new singer and drummer, had recorded new music, and would be releasing an album then touring starting later in 2024. Then they played the new song.

The drummer was not problematic at all: original drummer Rob Bourdon decided against rejoining the band (not surprising as he had distanced himself following Bennington’s death) and was replaced by Colin Brittain, an experienced producer who had also co-written with Papa Roach.

The new singer was a different kettle of thetans entirely.

Dead Sara vocalist Emily Armstrong was announced as the new singer and, I thought, turned in a decent performance on the first song released, “The Emptiness Machine”. But then people got a hold of her Wikipedia page.

So, as best as I can tell, there were two issues. The first is that Armstrong is a scientologist. The second is that she appeared to support fellow scientologist and friend Danny Masterson as he was charged (and convicted) of rape. If that isn’t enough, interestingly, it’s At The Drive-In/Mars Volta singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala who has been most vocal on both points.

As far as her being a scientologist goes: meh. I think scientology is as bullshit and as problematic as anyone but, to me, choosing to be a scientologist is no different than choosing to be any other religion. Live and let live.

The Masterson thing is also a bit of a non-story. Armstrong herself has spoken out about this, admitting that she attended a court session to support her friend, not realising the severity of the charges against him, and hasn’t spoken to or supported him since. I can understand that; if a friend of mine was in that situation, I’d likely support them initially too. Being a friend to them wouldn’t mean I agree with whatever they did. Judge the sin, not the sinner, I reckon.

In terms of a reunion announcement, its been about as rocky as it gets. Add in the fact that the Bennington family have also voiced their disappointment that they weren’t informed of the remaining band members’ plans, and it appears on the outside that it was a mistake to get the band back together.

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But what of the new music?

The reformed Linkin Park have released two songs to date. The first came out with the announcement: “The Emptiness Machine” - a fairly standard “What I’ve Done”-esque Linkin Park track that would sound at home on their later output, which is to say that it is fairly milquetoast, a bland, cookie-cutter track to show that they still sound like Linkin Park. I’ve linked the live version below because I think the song sounds better here than it does as a studio recording.

The second track is much better: “Heavy Is The Crown” is heavier than “The Emptiness Machine”, and Armstrong sounds much more like Bennington here. It sounds more like the Hybrid Theory/Meteora version of the group, brutally heavy in moments, and features a fairly epic scream in the middle of the track.

I have one question about it though: Armstrong screams ‘this is what you asked for’ at the top of her lungs in the middle of the track and I have to wonder: was it a conscious decision to release this specific track in the wake of the response to the announcement? A bold move by the band if it was.

If I’m honest? I kind of like both tracks - particularly “Heavy Is The Crown” - and I’m interested to see what the rest of the new album - From Zero - sounds like when it lands on November 15; keep an eye on My Week In Music for that.

For now though, what do you think about Linkin Park reforming? Do you think Emily Armstrong suits the sound? Do you like the new songs?

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Ngā mihi nui, thanks for reading, fam - see you tomorrow for my week in music!
Cheers, Chris