Following on from their May 2019 debut, “Renegade” is the so-called-difficult second-album from New York 2-piece Forest Hills.
Jack Burton is the engine room for Zero Surico’s creative output. From the opener Blame to the closer Step Back, “Renegade” is mostly cleaner and definitely more developed than “Break Free” as you would expect from an emerging band’s second release. The pain is still there (look at Name Calling, Let Me Down and, my stand-out, Riot, as examples) as explained in the Femm Metal Rock interview for the debut.
While the songs from the debut were sourced from Zero’s formative years, the work on this one began pretty much straight away: it may have as easily drawn from that back catalogue as from new material; and it took them only fifteen months to get it into the can and onto the various streaming platforms.
It hasn’t been rushed, from the sound of it: they’re just prolific. There is much for Zero to write about, and there is as much influence to wear on his sleeve as the last outing (the Nirvana is strong on this one). Evanescence and Linkin Park also get a guernsey.
On their history so far, we won’t have to wait much longer for their third record. Bring It! Until then, the firm foundation of “Break Free” has a firmer follow-up in “Renegade”.
Great work, guys!