Phenomenon — Thousand Foot Krutch

Thousand Foot Krutch's Phenomenon came out on Tooth & Nail on 30 September 2003. It's twelve tracks and runs thirty-seven minutes twelve seconds by AllMusic's count, though JFH has it a few seconds longer. The band recorded it at Compound Recording in Seattle, Washington, and at Metalworks in Mississauga, Ontario. Aaron Sprinkle and Thousand Foot Krutch produced it. J. R. McNeely mixed most of the album, and Ben Grosse mixed Last Words and Quicken. Sprinkle also engineered and played extra guitar. Latif Tayour engineered too, Jason Corsaro engineered the drums at Metalworks with Steve Chahley assisting, Zach Hodges assisted on the mix, and Brandon Ebel was executive producer.

Trevor McNevan sang and played guitar, Joel Bruyere played bass and Steve Augustine played drums. That's the Canadian three-piece that carried the band into its Tooth & Nail years. Asterik Studio did the art direction and design, and the band photos are credited to David Johnson. It was their second studio album and their first on Tooth & Nail, after the independent Set It Off days.

The singles were Phenomenon, Rawkfist, Bounce and This Is a Call. Rawkfist peaked at No. 28 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart in 2004 and got to No. 23 on Active Rock. On ChristianRock.net, both Phenomenon and Rawkfist went to No. 1. Phenomenon finished 14th among the site's top songs of 2003, and Rawkfist finished 11th for 2004. ESPN used Rawkfist in SportsCenter's Ultimate Highlight reels, and it turned up in the Smallville season 3 episode "Velocity." It's nu metal and Christian rock, and the band's open about Linkin Park, Papa Roach and P.O.D. shaping the sound. I'm giving it an 8/10.

What you're hearing

The title track, Phenomenon, opens with a punch, nu-metal verse energy tidied up by the Tooth & Nail production. Step to Me keeps the in-your-face bounce going. Last Words is the darker turn, and it's one of the two Grosse mixed. This Is a Call is the softer moment Josh Taylor pointed out at JFH. It's about hurting people crying out, set to a pop-radio melody. You can hear the mellow side McNevan and Augustine were exploring in FM Static, but it doesn't take over. Rawkfist is the first of the videos. It's short and fist-in-the-air, and it's the single that made it onto mainstream rock radio. Faith, Love and Happiness keeps the party-rock mood rolling. I Climb reaches further. Quicken is the other Grosse mix, urgent all the way through with no soft chorus. New Design is Greg Sammons' favourite at Cross Rhythms, with its skeletal intro and crisp vocal before it takes off with passion and guts. Bounce is the playground single and another ChristianRock.net favourite. Ordinary and Break the Silence close out the twelve.

Josh Taylor reviewed it for JFH on 29 September 2003 and said it was worth the wait, calling it an "absolutely incredible thirty-seven minutes of obnoxious rock." He said the Tooth & Nail production was a clear step up from the rougher do-it-yourself sound of Set It Off, though he noted the raw early edge had been toned down and the album plays it fairly safe. Greg Sammons reviewed it for Cross Rhythms on 1 July 2004, in CR Mag 81. He heard Sprinkle's production lifting the band, and a move away from pure rap-rock towards a harder, sometimes punkish attack. He said Phenomenon, Rawkfist and Bounce were obvious radio songs and named New Design the best track on the album. He found the lyrics "not particularly new" but "still worth saying," and thought the band looked ready to change as nu-metal cooled off and emo took over.

How it was made

The sessions happened at Compound Recording in Seattle, Sprinkle's studio, and at Metalworks in Mississauga, where Corsaro engineered the drums. Sprinkle and the band produced it together, and you can hear his extra guitars in the mix. McNeely mixed most of it and Grosse took Last Words and Quicken. Ebel was executive producer as the band joined Tooth & Nail after their independent years. The Asterik Studio cover has that mid-2000s Christian rock look the label was known for. The album moves on from the rough rapcore of Set It Off towards more accessible hard rock and nu metal, the kind that went down well in youth-group car parks and, for a while, on mainstream rock radio. FM Static was already up and running for McNevan and Augustine, and This Is a Call is where that mellow side shows up on a TFK album without taking it over.

Where the score lands

It gets an eight because it lands where it counts. It was made at Compound and Metalworks, with Sprinkle and the band producing and McNeely and Grosse splitting the mix, and it's a strong Tooth & Nail debut. Rawkfist hit No. 28 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart and No. 23 on Active Rock, and both Phenomenon and Rawkfist went to No. 1 on ChristianRock.net. Taylor loved its obnoxious rock and Sammons loved New Design, even though both said it plays safe and tones down the old edge. It's not a ten, because that complaint about staying in the box is fair and the lyrics aren't new. It's not a seven either. Breaking into mainstream rock radio, a strong set of videos and its place as the record that defined mid-2000s TFK push it up to eight.

Watch

The official video for Rawkfist comes first. After that come Phenomenon, Step to Me, This Is a Call, Quicken and Bounce, then a live take of Rawkfist. Songs from later albums, like Move, Courtesy Call and War of Change, aren't here.

Where this album sits on Loud Faith

Mid-2000s Christian rock and nu metal on Tooth & Nail was a lot louder than outsiders expected. It meant studios in Seattle and Mississauga, youth-group car parks, ChristianRock.net countdowns, and a Mainstream Rock top-forty hit that still surprises people who only know the later singles. Phenomenon is TFK's second studio album and their first on Tooth & Nail. Taylor loved its obnoxious rock, Sammons heard Sprinkle lift the band and picked New Design, and Rawkfist is still the best way in.