Review Rating: Must Listen! [4.5 / 5]
Thousand Foot Krutch has easily earned their genre of adrenaline rock – their albums and live shows are filled with accelerated energy. They captured a sample in 2011’s Live At The Masquerade, but three albums later, Trevor McNevan, Joel Bruyere, and Steve Augutine have returned with their latest and greatest. Taking from The End Is Where We Begin, Oxygen: Inhale, and their recent Exhale, the band’s latest live project riffs, roars, and rushes like never before. It’s the best of the TFK experience, making Untraveled Roads an essential for any fan of the band.
The average YouTube video of a TFK concert has questionable audio quality at best, yet Untraveled Roads captures each sound ever so clearly. Trevor’s vocals are the most prominent, showcasing his adaptability on stage and enthusiastic crowd-leading. The electric guitar and drums balance well, with the crowd’s cheering and singing just present enough to give context, but not as much as to distract from the songs.
Half of the fun of the collection is hearing a favorite song with the live treatment – for this reviewer, “Light Up The Sky,” “Untraveled Road,” “A Different Kind of Dynamite,” and “Courtesy Call,” among many others, stood out for their energy and enthusiasm, both due to TFK and the crowd throwing themselves all in. The fan-favorite riffs across “Push,” the opening notes for “War of Change,” and the explosive intro for “Running With Giants” sound absolutely amazing and easily engage listeners.
One of the best moments across the entire album comes after the upbeat and intense “Courtesy Call.” Trevor takes a minute to address the crowd and preface the next song. “Our culture tells us we gotta look and walk and talk a certain way … this is how God sees us: He says He created us in His image … ‘we are beautifully and wonderfully made.'” This gentle opener to “Be Somebody” starts the song and brings the experience to its ultimate point.
Truth be told, live albums are risky and often turn away listeners – especially the ones who feel a gap between the studio and the stage. Untraveled Roads does an incredible job at reducing this gap. It’s immersive, motivating, and engaging. True, nothing can quite compare to the rush in the auditorium, the vibrating seats and floor, the analog presence of it all, but for those who can or can’t, have or haven’t been, this album is a fantastic sampler. If anything, Untraveled Roads is the raw, energetic, and sincere TFK fans have come to love and enjoy.
