(HED) PE " Class of 2020"

It's been 11 albums since I paid attention to what HED PE was doing . The first song feels like they have moved in a more straight forward metal direction. The singer is realy the only original member, but DJ Product does play on this album. Their original guitarist also contributes a solo.When they are sticking to stragiht up metal they are not in their sweet pop like they are when devling into poppier hip hop elements. This makes a song like "Watch it Burn" one of the album's tronger moments and " No Days Off" mediocre. The hit a better balance when blending this in a more Limp Bizkit manner , though I always stood by the fact these guys are better at what Limp Bizkit does, their first album just took more chances.

In promo material for the album the singer talks about all the classic hard core he listens to. That is infe and good, but what comes out when applied is something wack like Biohazard. I want more moments like "Last Call" from them. Even though when that song tries to get harder it loses it . Not as much as the attempts at punk on  "Ole Times Sake". They are going for a Drop Kick Murphys thing. It is not the worst song on the album,. but far from the best. "Greedy Girl" finds them back in their sweet with hip hop, reggae and rock. "Nothing Lasts 4ever" is like a pub song, about when Corona. Saying things like protect the weak and elderly is proof these guys are drinking the Kool Aid. They are hoping it's over , rather than hoping it's the end of the world, just the attitude that proves why they can not play metal, because metal should be fueled by darkness.

"We the People " sounds like a more metallic version of Kid Rock. It is better than most of their attmempts at a similar sound. "Overdue" is the album's most melodic moment and it's darkest as well. They use auto tune to create more of a modern pop feel. More often than not this album is a disappointment and lacks what they brough on their debut.  I will round it down to a 6.5 . It comes out August 21st.

King 810 : "Suicide King"

These guys are a more progressive take on nu-metal, they remind me equally of Slipknot and Pain of Salvation. They are quirky in a similar vein as System of a Down, though I think darker which plays in their favor and I would also argue that they are heavier than a band like Avatar. There is also a wannabe gangsta side to this band that lets me believe Juggaloos might also be into these guys. "Bang Guns" is rap rock with a well produced chorus that gives the song a kick. I would rather here some of this ghetto ass shit that some one talking about politics they have no clue about and are just trying to fall on the popular opinions of the kids. "A Million Dollars" just doesn't flow as well as the first few songs. "45" stays closers to hip hop and the grooves work much better. This guys is more of a rapper than a singer.

"What's Gotten into Me" is darker , but it doesn't feel as focused and the vocals come across as more of a freestyle spoken word. He does make a little more of an attempt to sing on the blues tinged "Black Rifle".  It reminds me of one of the songs from the last In This Moment album. The choir that joins in might be a little , but over all the song works. "God is Watching"  carries a similar tension that the other songs have, though with a little more breathing room. There is a little more of an introspective spoken word tone with a similar hint of blues already touched upon with on "Wade in the Water". They begin exploring more melodic touches with "Sing me to Sleep",

I think there is less posing going on considering the arrest record these guys have built for themselves, which gives it a more honest quality than bands like Limp Bizkit that came before. These guys are darker and heavier perhaps not in a metallic sense , but in the weight of what they are doing. While the vocals are somewhat limited they are more versatile than if this album depended on rapping alone, so more along the lines of a metal Post Malone. I'll give it a 9.

Stuck Mojo : " Here Come the Infidels"

I am not sure why Bonz is not involved in this comeback. Rich Ward is still doing his best with original drummer Frank Fontsere, to come up with catchy groove metal riffs. The turd in the punch bowl is Canadian rapper Robby J Fonts. Granted rap metal in and of itself is thought of in the same light as hair metal.If you are going to do it then you need someone who is not going to sound like some kid you found doing P.O.D at karaoke. There is a little more of a punk aggression to "The Business of Hate", the vocals on this song sound like it's all Ward. "Rape Whistle" has solid enough riffs to carry it, but when you album is resting on the shoulder's of a rapper, make sure he is not from Canada. Nothing against Canada, I'll take Rush and Voivod any day of the week, I think the ghettos of Canada are about as hard as the Wal-Mart parking lots of Iowa. So when says to "step to him and you might get shot" it's hard to take him seriously. it's Ward's input that keeps this song afloat. While Ward might get more of chance to shine in Fozzy, he rips a pretty mean solo on "Verbal Combat".

They go more of a Linkin Park route on "Destroyer" by indulging more in their hip-hop side. In all fairness this approach sounds a little less dated. The verses of "the Worst Person on Earth" are some of the album's heavier moments, the song is still packed with pretty effective hooks and if this came out 15 years ago it might sound a little fresher. "Fire Me" is well written, just a little middle of the road. "I am Legion" tries to get a little darker, but the verses are pretty lame thanks to the all to white boy rapping . "Tambourine" is about southern belles and could have come right from 1994. For rap rock they do a good job of it on "Blasphemy" to close out the album. They show signs of improvement as the album progresses, and Robby J might not grow on me, but fills in the gaps of Ward's riff's in a way that are less annoying.

The deck is really stacked against them, but they stick to their guns and don't try to make Myspace metal or djent, if they became a hard core band I suppose that might be the only safe way to go, but they are themselves for better or worse. I'll give this album a 6.5, round it up to a 7 if you never grew out of this sort of thing, if that is the case you might have been missing it and then it might go down on your top ten for the year, there is no accounting for taste in the trailer parks of South Georgia.