Like a “stray cat” who “just kept showing up” is how Emily Armstrong describes the gradual way she joined Linkin Park, seven years after the death of founding co-frontman Chester Bennington. On From Zero, her first album with the band, she growls and snarls more like a lion than a backyard moggy.
The 38-year-old Dead Sara singer joins Mike Shinoda at the mic one minute into lead single “The Emptiness Machine” and a minute later they’re both taking turns bawling: “I only wanted to be part of something!” It’s a line that’s guaranteed to get fan fists pumping the air when the world’s most successful nu-metal band embark on a massive global tour next year.
By choosing a woman for the role, LP are able to make a clear statement that they’re not trying to “replace” Bennington without tinkering with the core machinery of their distinctive hummable heavy-duty sound. Not that everybody’s happy to see Armstrong. She’s been called out for her links to Scientology (her parents raised her in that community) and the fact she asked the court to show leniency to actor Danny Masterson in a 2022 case that ultimately saw him convicted of drugging and raping three women.
This September she clarified her position, stating: “I always try to see the good in people and I misjudged him. I have never spoken with him since. Unimaginable details emerged and he was later found guilty. To say it as clearly as possible: I do not condone abuse or violence against women, and I empathise with the victims of these crimes.”
It’s a case Armstrong could very well be addressing on barnstorming track “Casualty”. “I know all the secrets you keep/ I won’t be your casualty,” she howls over the relentless churning of a chunky riff from guitarist Brad Delson and the decisively battered drum kit of new drummer Colin Brittain (replacing Rob Bourdon who left the band in 2018). Shinoda’s steady rapper’s flow provides a smooth contrast to Armstrong’s ragged, raging hairdryer vocal on the punchy “Two Faced”. The album’s longest song is also its hookiest: “Heavy is the Crown” clocks in at just under four minutes. Already used as the theme song to the 2024 e-sports League of Legends World Championship, the track arrives stacked with warrior references to blood, swords and fire. It also packs a catchy chorus of snarky menace: “Today’s gonna be the day you notice/ ’Cause I’m tired of explainin’ what the joke is.”
Elsewhere, LP keep things disciplined, with most other tracks running under three and a half minutes. Melodic power ballad “Over Each Other” allows Armstrong to sing more tenderly and melodically, like an Eighties rocker caught in a wind tunnel. “All we are is talking over each other/ Are we over each other?” she asks. The new flavour she brings is balanced by the familiarity of the band’s well-worn chord progressions (fans may hear echoes of 2007’s “Bleed it Out” on “Cut the Bridge”).
They close the album with the watery guitar lines and loping beat of “Good Things Go”, Armstrong’s melancholy lament (“I can’t do this alone”) overlapping with Shinoda’s helter-skelter urgency. Nothing revolutionary about From Zero, then. But certainly a re-energised return to business for a band that has been sorely missed.
