OK, Disturbed is way more mainstream than every thing else I cover with the exception of say "Madonna" so I created guilty pleasures to review bands who at one point in time might have been a guilty pleasure. Here is a band I haven't listened to in almost ten years. As far as nu-metal goes they were a step ahead of all the Taproots and Hoobastanks. Don't let some of their guitarists dumbed down arena rock riffs fool you open the intro song is just him ripping a solo, while this might just be a fill on a Symphony X record , for these guys it confirms my suspicion that they have had a secert hankering to be Judas Priest, but jumping on the Korn bandwagon hindered that. Though they did cover "Living After Midnight" for Metal Hammer magazine. The chug on the title track is more metal than most of the new Ghost album and not too far removed from the last Symphony X album. With that said it's not anything I haven't heard done better by Iced Earth or Kamelot. It's like power metal for the masses. Drainman said they smoke a lot of pot while making this album and they must have been playing World of Warcraft in the studio as well. "Vengeful One " sounds like "Shout at the Devil" era Motley Crue until his vocals come in. He goes into his more melodic croon on this song as well. The hook on the chorus doesn't hold as much kick as their previous work. The ultra slick for radio production is one of the big factors that keeps this album from being as heavy as it could be.
There is more arena rocking kicking off on "Open Your Eyes" , which to their credit is the first song that has the stench of nu-metal to it. The woooahhohhhohh on the chorus sounds like if Def Leppard took at stab nu-metal. They dabble with electronics on the more Smashing Pumpkins paced "the Light". Though "Ten Thousand Fists" was the last album I gave the time of day, it sounds like it is a much different turn for the band. It almost has a power ballad like quality to it.I have to give it them for what it is it's pretty clever. I have never heard them use vocal harmonies like this.There is a riff very similar to many I have already heard from them on "What are You Waiting". When they bust into a faster Poppa Roach like riff I find myself thinking, "I haven't heard one song yet that would work in a strip club". Which is what I used to think of these guys as , the best band I was going to hear in da club. Though I don't think I have seen the inside of a strip club in four years. With a title like "You're Mine" I think I might be eating those words. But it's instead some weird thing like when Finger Eleven tried to make dance rock. The big rock chorus is eventual followed by one of the rare guitar solos. I could now hear this in a trailer for Fast and Furious 20.
I suppose "Who" is the equivalent to today's Whitesnake. It's better than any of the other harder rock you might hear on the radio, like Avenged Sevenfold. I am not their target audience that is for sure. Title alone I am prepared for another power ballad on "Save Our Last Goodbye" , but its one of the album's heavier songs. The chorus cheeses it up a little. They pull a Tool and record a bong toke on "Fire it Up". Drainman goes into his lower register for this one. Unlike Tool there is more cock rock than prog rock going on. The vocals on this album are giving more love in the production department than their earlier work. The obligatory cover this time is Simon & Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence". He croons even lower than the previous song, but they are not a band I want to hear doing piano ballads.
They find their way back into the kind of groove you would expect from them...in other words the closest they come to getting down with the sickness. They close out the album asking the question most nu-metal bands should..."Who taught you how to hate?". It's pretty par for the coarse here. No real surprises . They hit more familiar grooves here , but otherwise color by the numbers. This album pretty much is what it is, not my thing , but well produced and performed I'll give it a 5.
6.1
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