Chevelle : "the North Corridor"

OK, here is one that is a little more main stream than I normally go, but oh, well...Chevelle has always been a pretty decent Tool cover band. At this point Tool might not ever see the light of day so I though I would check in with these guys and see if these have progressed beyond "Undertow". There is a very Helmet like stomp to the opening song. This might be thinking man's nu-metal so I don't really hear where these guys fit as they are too hard for the radio, but not hard enough to be metal. A similar quandary faces Tool, who happens to be more infused with prog rock so they have all of those nerds, who never discovered King Crimson or Genesis getting ready to transcribe all their songs. Chevelle doesn't have as much going on in that department so they are just left to straight up rock. There is an annoying punk pace with the very stiff snare hits on "Enemies" that I was very tempted to skip ahead on. A temptation that I gave in to when this obnoxious tempo did not shift.

These guys have written songs I have liked in the past so I know they are capable of that. The bass line to "Joy Ride" feels more like Filter trying to hard. Much of the fault fall on Pete Loeffler, who could take the melodies in more interesting places as he has done before, rather than relying on vocal overdubs and harmonies to do all the heavy lifting. Many of the riffs found like Godsmack b-sides that never surfaced. There is a little more groove to thick bass of " Last Days" , but the repeated screams about catching the witch make me able to take this as serious as post Black Album Metallica. "Young Wicked" harkens back to their older work only it's a few degrees less inspired. It does have a more convincing groove than the other songs thus far.

"Warhol's Showbiz" is more radio ready as it backs off of some of their stomp. The while of the vocals should be emotive to keep most kids who grew up in the 90s convinced. The chorus to this song is really weak, to the point it almost is not there. This could almost be Sixx A. M. or any bland rock band at this point. "Punchline" seems like it will have a more interesting pulse, but it won't be the first time I have gotten hopes up for this album only to be let down. It is darker, and the vocals are a lower whisper until the build for the chorus that you think you can feel coming a mile away, but it never comes.  "Got Burned" should answer the question as to why this band is no longer relevant. At this point I am beginning to think I will feel the same way about the new Tool album if they don't bring it harder than this. All of things you used to like about bands like Filter are on display on "Shot From a Cannon" just with out any of the hooks to make it worth while. I'll give this album a  5.5 as I'm sure it's better than stuff band's like shine down are making and there are few worthwhile moments, but color me underwhelmed.

Prong : " X No Absolutes"

Yep, Prong was playing this kind of groove metal at the same time  Pantera...came riding out as the Cowboys from hell, which served as a turning point for metal .  On the opener of the band's new album they are just playing along with their own bandwagon that is much further down a road whose time has come. Tommy Victor is the only member from the  "Beg to Differ" line-up. "Sense of Ease" doesn't really find the band playing to the strengths of their signature sound and instead racing off into the kind of thrash they turned the tables on in 1990. "Without Words" holds a tighter groove that comes closer to making you snap your fingers and your neck with a very Killing Joke influenced chorus. "Cut and Dry" lives up to its name in providing a description of the brand of groove metal they engage in on this one. Some of the difference between this album and what happened 26 years ago is the production. Mark Dodson who produced "State of Euphoria" and " How Will I Laugh Tomorrow", was a forward thinking producer at the time. Here the band has more of you typical mall metal production which is the equivalent of if "Beg to Differ" was produced by Alex Perialas instead.

The more tighter staccato chug of "No Absolutes" finds the band playing closer to their strengths despite the more obvious hook of the chorus. The rest of the band get the job done with former Winds of Plague drummer behind the kick and ex- Stone Sour bassist holding down the bottom end. They dip into almost pop punk on the more melodic "Do Nothing". Victor's voice has grown stronger over the years and he is not just limited to the bark. His singing voice gets the job done, his range is not jaw dropping as he carries a modest tune. They beef things back up for "Belief System" that finds the band back in more classic territory. The guitar solo in this one shows Victor's playing has also improved after serving as Danzig's side man. They get into more of a proto-Nu Metal on "Soul Sickness", but Victor gets the job done where bands like Fear Factory got bogged down in redundancy. Then in turn they fall prey to similar glue sniffing doldrums on " In Spite of Hinderances' which thrashes about with no clear sense of target for it's de-manufactured aggression.

The bass line that opens "Ice Runs Through My Veins" could have taken the song in more of a post-punk direction, instead in stomps around typical post- Head Banger's Ball rock music. The Killing Joke influence is still there , but run through a filter of Linkin Park. The pop punk undertones are still haunting the song as well to make this more obvious. Then it's back to the late 80's for the thrash riff of "Worth Pursuing" as Victor's vocals coast over it much like Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke. They close out the album with the almost poppy "With Dignity" that brings Linkin Park to mind again. The hip-hop undertone are not there, but the guitar feels a little dialed back to bring the vocals up to a more radio friendly mix. Not sure this is the wisest direction to move in making the lyrics a little ironic. Listening to this album did make me go back and listen to "Beg to Differ" again and I'm sure I'll also give "Prove You Wrong" another spin, maybe even try out "Cleansing " which is where I parted ways with the band as I was well into death metal at that point and they just did not seem heavy anymore. This album starts off strong, the Linkin Park moments are far and few between, but the fact they exist made me round this one down to an 8, which is still better than just decent and if you are a fan of 90's groove metal then you will want to round this up.