The third track is titled "Lords of War" and is the first track from the album that I heard, as it was available to stream earlier this year. Via her music and her writings such as her blogs, it has always been obvious to me that Otep is a bit of a pacifist when it comes to war. (Some of her music is urging listeners to go to war, but her idea of war is hardly the same as countries being at war with other countries, resulting in numbers of senseless deaths.) "Lords of War" makes that clear, as it is a heavy anti-war anthem. The chorus declares, "I'd rather be in battle than at peace. I'd rather be a wolf than a sheep. I'd rather be in battle than slaughtered like cattle. The weak can sleep while I scream." This sounds like the farthest possible thing from an anti-war song; it sounds like a battle cry, and indeed, it is, but the surrounding verses make it clear that Otep is cleverly declaring war against war. A person is, for example, going to war every time that they go to the polls and vote against a radical tyrant who clearly does not have humanity's best interests in mind. They are going to war every time that they petition for and/or donate to a peaceful cause. They are going to war every time that they use words (such as music, journal articles, blogs, books, etc.) as weapons. That's what I take away from the song, anyway. It ends with another spoken interlude, beginning with a child's cry and then a man rhetorically asking what it is about a child's cry that is so disturbing. The clip then seems to change to a man (who sounds suspiciously like Mr. Rogers) asking, "What about the child who comes from an inadequate home, or he gets no encouragement from his parents, or he doesn't have enough to wear, or he doesn't have enough to eat? He goes to school hungry."
The fourth track is a cover of Lorde's pop hit "Royals." When I first saw the tracklisting, I saw this on it, and it identified it as a Lorde cover, so I remember feeling really excited to hear it. It would certainly be interesting to hear Otep tackle a pop song, since covers in the past, such as of Nirvana's "Breed" and of The Doors' "Not to Touch the Earth" were of rock songs. It is, indeed, interesting, in that it surprisingly stays relatively true to the original while also being quite different from it. The fifth track, "In Cold Blood," is technically the album's first single (and features a music video that is unfortunately currently exclusive to Music Choice). This was the second song that I heard from the album, and I was instantly floored by its beauty. The song is a midtempo alternative rock song that is ultimately unlike anything Otep has ever done before. Otep sings in a low register that is difficult to describe but definitely a new style for her. The song has a dark, beautiful melody, and Otep has said that she wrote the song during a very dark time of her life. She also said that a lot of the album was written about her heart being broken, and this song seems to be a song that covers that, obvious in the lyric: "Something's wrong with me for thinking something's right with you." I really relate to this song on a deep level, and it's definitely a highlight on the album. The sixth track is "Down" and starts with an electric guitar playing what sounds a little bit middle-eastern to me, which plays throughout a majority of the song. "All my life, I was told that I was evil," Otep starts. Some of my favorite Otep songs are when Otep raps, and this is a song on which she is rapping. Otep has, like many true artists, been challenged in the past by people who don't understand her. This rap/metal gem seems to be a heavy middle finger to those people who have tried to keep her on a leash.
"God Is a Gun" starts with Otep in a low, quiet voice, broken up by a slamming guitar. Otep's vocals as well as the amazing lyrics both make this song memorable. She occasionally sings in a whimpery tone as if she's crying, which I love, and the lyrics are powerfully poignant (sure to stir up a storm by Christian fanatics if they hear it). The Manson-esque track sings of Christianity being an obstacle to equality and freedom: "God is a gun, and the bullets are free," she screams during the song's chorus. "The only religion I know," she confesses, "is dripping from my pen." This really enunciates one of the phrases by which true Otep fans live: Art saves. (The first Otep album, in fact, is titled Sevas Tra, which is "Art Saves" spelled backwards, and there is also a song on Smash the Control Machine titled "Serv Asat," an anagram of "Art Saves.") It is a powerful and also all-too-true account of people too often attempting to justify their hateful and bigoted views via Christianity, the sacred text of which does, indeed, fuel such beliefs. The eighth track on the album is definitely a highlight, a trappy, urban hip-hop track titled "Equal Rights, Equal Lefts." This is definitely the trappiest track that she has done yet, and I love it. The song specifically recounts a time when Otep was with an ex-girlfriend and was verbally harassed by a man: "He called me a dyke; I called him an ambulance," she raps over an urban beat. "Your ego's been deflated," she observes, meaning that one reason why the man was made so uncomfortable seeing Otep with a woman was because the woman was with her, not him. More generally, however, the song is a battle cry against people who try to keep the LGBTQ+ community oppressed: "Love is love; you can't be stopped," she declares. Otep has spoken out during livestreaming about this song, saying that the record label didn't want to promote it because they're a rock label and the song is a rap / hip-hop track. This is nonsensical to me for many reasons, but let's not have that discussion here.
"No Color" opens with a slow, bluesy guitar riff that reminds me of the intro of "My Confession" from Sevas Tra. The song is a heavy and catchy breakup song (that I can totally hear on mainstream rock radio) that recounts how it feels to have a broken heart (according to my interpretation at least). "Why can't I see any color at all when I think about those days?" she sings in her typical low register. There is a break near the end of the song during which she sings in her aforementioned whimpery tone: "I think I thought, but I forgot. I think I think too much. I have a problem for every answer." The song ends with another interlude, this one spoken by Otep herself about how losing people is merely a part of life: "Life happens... people you've known for a long time suddenly become your enemies..." This is a great segue into the next song, "Lie," which is another one of my absolute favorites. This is definitely one of the poppiest tracks on the album, featuring one of the most catchiest choruses that I've ever heard. It's an alternative rock song reflecting on a failed relationship: "It felt so good, but it never felt right," she reflects. The chorus tells the person that they are a pathological liar, having lied directly to her and behind her back, until she finally saw their true colors and discovered the truth. This song certainly hits a central part of home for me, and it's definitely an empowering anthem for me. The title track is probably the heaviest track on the album and is one of the biggest middle fingers that I have ever seen toward the "generation doom," people who have betrayed her, lied to her, belittled her, etc. It is a strong track but pales in comparison to brilliant highlights like "In Cold Blood," "Equal Rights, Equal Lefts," "Lie," and "On the Shore," which marks a good place to discuss "On the Shore."
"On the Shore," in some ways, closes the album, since the following tracks are bonus tracks. "On the Shore" is the softest song on the album, a soft alternative rock song that Otep has explicitly said is about her heart having been broken. The song features a beautiful, angelic melody, and the lyrics speak of moving past the grief that someone has caused: "No longer living under your command. Gonna sleep well, sleep tonight on the shore beneath a gentle sky." In keeping with the lyrics, the melody of the chorus sounds almost like a soaring lullaby. It is one of the most beautifully written songs that Otep has ever written and recorded and is comparable to one of my favorite Otep songs, "Perfectly Flawed" from the 2007 album The Ascension. Many of the extra tracks are spoken word poems, acoustic versions, and an electropop remix by Jonny Dope of "On the Shore." There is one extra song, though, titled "More Fire." This is a heavy song, but like "Equal Rights, Equal Lefts," it does feature a trappy beat. The song angrily calls the listener to action, to "fight with fire." "...Passion burns brighter than the darkness of hate," she reasons. The song is also similar to "Equal Rights, Equal Lefts" in that it paints a picture of the beauty of love juxtaposed against the ugly obstacles that it faces - opposition, hatred, bigotry, discrimination, ignorance, and so forth. As I said, this is easily the best Otep album to date. I would have previously said that The Ascension was my favorite, and that is, of course, still a very special album to me, but Generation Doom definitely trumps it. It's even better than I was expecting, and it is very diverse. Madonna's most recent album is titled Rebel Heart due to the supposed juxtaposing rebellious yet heartfelt tone of it. That would have definitely been an effective title of Generation Doom, as it features a tough warrior but also a very vulnerable human being on it. With heavy middle-finger anthems, devastating songs about heartbreak and grief, and beautiful melodies alongside powerfully profound lyrics, how could this not immediately hook me and take its rightful place as best Otep album so far?
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