Review: Nu metal veterans Limp Bizkit turn back the clock with new album Still Sucks

: by Joe Sharratt; in Reviews; on 04 December 2021

Step forward Fred Durst, the now 51-year-old(!) who as the frontman of Limp Bizkit spearheaded the nu metal charge of the late 1990s, and receive your award for most on -brand lyric of the year. Because, on the perfectly named Dad Vibes, Durst raps that “Hot dad ridin' in on a rhino / Got the roll-under-rap with the dad vibes / Now everybody bounce with the franchise, come on”. Limp Bizkit are back. Close your eyes, turn your baseball cap around, and it’s like we’ve gone back in time twenty years. And my word, it’s fun.

“We cannot change the past” are the words that open ‘Still Sucks’, the new and sixth studio album from the veteran rockers. And as the first track Out Of Stye kicks in, it feels like there’s no desire to. ‘Still Sucks’ is instantly recognisable, confirmation that Limp Bizkit are still rollin’ rollin’ rollin.

Guitarist Wes Borland’s riffs are as big as ever, and the flourishes on the turntables from DJ Lethal are as old school as it gets. Dirty Rotten Bizkit bounces along with Durst’s distinctive quickfire and foul-mouthed lyrical delivery, while Barnacle is a high octane anger fest that harks back to the very best of ‘Significant Other’ and ‘Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water’.

There’s a wonderful self-awareness present here, a truly refreshing couldn’t-care-less attitude that lots of bands claim to have, but very few inhabit – and have always inhabited – with the same verve as Limp Bizkit. Durst calls his band “nu metal one hit wonders” on Turn It Up, Bitch, while Love The Hate kicks off with a conversation which dismisses Durst as the “worst white rapper ever” with “Drake’s pubes on his chin”.

It’s a sign of Limp Bizkit’s house party vibe that one of their biggest hits remains Faith, their cover of the George Michael classic. Here they tackle Don’t Change by INXS, and the result is a delicate, beautifully handled, even tender affair. It shows that twenty years on from the height of the fame, Limp Bizkit still know how to make you sit up and take notice.

Still Sucks tracklist: