Going out with a bang is an apt description of not only Sum 41’s final tour, Tour of The Setting Sum, but also a pretty good summation of their new (and, for the foreseeable future, last) album, Heaven :x: Hell.
The record, released last month, is a mammoth double LP with two distinct “sides”: a heaven made of pop punk anthems, and a hell full of rock numbers inspired by heavy metal’s finest. I have to say, for a final album — a record that, for many bands calling it a day, would be mediocre at best — Heaven :x: Hell is one of the Canadian band’s finest. Just try to get songs like “Landmines,” the albums first single, out of your head even after a quick play through.
Sum 41 has released eight albums in their storied career and a little bit of everything was on display at the band’s recent stop in Baltimore. And you couldn’t ask for better weather for the beginning of the outdoor concert season at Pier Six, as pop-punk fans made their way onto the pier.