Linkin Park are at an intriguing point in their career. They seem to be on a mission to combine the experimentalism of ‘Minutes to Midnight’ and ‘A Thousand Suns’ with the directness and energy of ‘Hybrid Theory’ and ‘Meteora’ but without becoming nu-metal revivalists. Certainly, they’ve achieved that.

One of the things that strikes you most about ‘Living Things’ is its punchiness; unlike their last couple of albums, this record is well under 40 minutes, with the average song lasting a shade over three minutes. It feels very much like a slim, muscular alternative rock album with a heavy, modern focus on electronica and hip-hop. Every song begins with a dancey intro and there is a very pronounced use of synths and programmed beats throughout.

Opening track ‘Lost In The Garden’ is fine statement of intent. The song is synth-heavy, features slashes of guitar, and a dash of screaming from Chester Bennington. While the use of American-sounding electronica is a major part of ‘Living Things,’ Mike Shinoda does rap on a number of hip-hop inspired songs. Fourth song ‘Lies Greed Misery’ sees the band go crunk and it’s the first genuinely energetic and aggressive track on the album, with Shinoda rapping over heavy bass and Bennington ferociously screaming ‘you did it to yourself’ repeatedly. This is the type of song that works best on ‘Living Things’ and a variation of these ingredients is repeated on the shorter, punkier ‘Victimized.’ Hard, fast drums combine with Shinoda rapping over quite a hip-hop sound and Bennington screaming the chorus. The most overt hip-hop song is ‘Until It Breaks,’ with Shinoda’s flow sounding remarkably different and certainly more modern on the tenth track as he boasts “I’m a Banksy, you’re a Brainwash.” Clearly he’s someone who has watched ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’ then.

However, the rest of the songs on ‘Living Things’ don’t go for the throat to the same extent and are decidedly mid-paced in comparison. After the searing ‘Lies Greed Misery,’ any momentum the album has built up is lost with the melodic and slightly dull combination of ‘I’ll Be Gone’ and ‘Castle Of Glass.’ Soon after, ‘Road Untravelled’ and ‘Skin To Bone’ sap the record’s energy further. I’m not arguing that every song has to be a full-throttle monster, just that the use of these slower-paced tracks can sometimes prove to be detrimental.

But this is certainly a varied album giving its relatively short running time and ‘Living Things’ is finished off with the spacey instrumental ‘Tinfoil’ and the suitably cinematic closer ‘Powerless.’ It’s an album not without its faults but it’s a fresh, varied, and occasionally thrilling record.