Drowning Pool -- 'Full Circle' [review]

Drowning Pool - Full Circle

Eleven Seven Music (8/7/07)

Hard rock / Metal



Three albums with three front men—it would seem like an uphill battle for any band to gain a foothold and start to grow into a more cohesive unit. That certainly was the problem with Drowning Pool's last effort, Desensitized. Former lead singer Jason Jones had a great stage presence and a nice mixture of original lead singer Dave Williams' tenacity and urgency with a subtle amount of soul, but ultimately, the album seemed rushed and somewhat off-target (especially with the marketing).


On Full Circle, Drowning Pool brought in a seasoned pro in Ryan McCombs, formerly of Soil. McCombs' distinct, captivating voice melds well with the Drowning Pool sound. And for a band with an established fanbase, it didn't hurt to bring in someone with a recognizable commodity.

Constant touring prior to any studio recording seems to have paid off for the band. Full Circle presents a tight, cohesive wall of sound, which is fairly important for a band essentially re-debuting for a third time. The album opens promisingly enough with the hard-hitting title track. Mike Luce has never sounded as ferocious as the final moments of the song, and bassist Stevie Benton seems particularly inspired.

C.J. Pierce's classic Drowning Pool riff rears its head on "Enemy", one of the album's stronger tracks, and the driving guitar continues through songs like "Shame" and "Duet". Lyrically, the band has never come across better than on "Reborn", with great allusion to the band and McCombs' pasts (comments about a halo -- Soil's first break; tear away -- a Drowning Pool song; redefine -- McCombs' last album with Soil), but some great acoustic guitar and drum work, too.

And the band, and particularly McCombs, is practically channeling Alice in Chains on "Upside Down", which almost sounds like it has the late Layne Staley on guest vocals -- and that's a good thing (the Alice in Chains comparisons litter the latter half of the album).

But for all the promise, there are more than a few shallow moments. "Love" seems like a throwaway track with little to make it notable, and covering Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" has BAD IDEA written all over it. The group tries to catch the lightning of "Bodies" with the sing-a-long anthem "Soldiers", but it just seems to miss the mark. The message (supporting the troops) is admirable, but for some reason you want to chant along to "let the bodies hit the floor" as opposed to "(whoop, yeah) this is for the soldiers."

Then there's the Nikki Sixx penned "Reason I'm Alive" which couldn't sound more out of place. The pseudo-ballad seems forced and hollow, which is especially troubling as the band can and does do melancholic tracks extremely well when it wants to—"37 Stitches" and "Paralyzed" channel that great feel of the Drowning Pool classic "Tear Away" (not to mention McCombs once again channeling Staley on the latter).

What Drowning Pool really needs to do is keep a line-up in place for more than one album, and lord knows it wants to. The untimely death of Williams could have been a death knell, but the band soldiered on. Jones and the rest of the group just never meshed. McCombs seems like a perfect fit. The good on Full Circle really is good, and songs like "37 Stitches" and "Reborn" are great. That's what makes the bad stuff stick out all the more. Drowning Pool can write good material, so it's apropos that two of the weaker links are from outside sources. With more touring the band will only get better. Having McCombs stick around will show whether the band can write a follow-up without new blood in the mix. As of now, Full Circle stands as an above-average debut from a band that needs no introduction.

Nodes of Ranvier -- 'Defined by Struggle' [review]

Nodes of Ranvier - Defined by Struggle

Victory Records (7/24/07)

Hardcore/Metal


Nodes of Ranvier's latest effort, Defined by Struggle, the band's first with Victory Records, offers a glimpse of a band with a split personality.

On the one side, you have a no-holds-barred battering ram of hardcore, exemplified on songs like "Valjean", the title-track, the album closer "Infidelity" and "Confront". On the other, you've got a band that crafts these hard-hitting metal songs that twist melody and blistering riffs with blasting beats and urgent vocals (see, e.g., "Wrathbearer", "Endless Faith", "Purpose in Pain") on songs that sound more like Trivium than Remembering Never.

The band shines on "Sergeant Sorrow", where it seems to find the perfect mix of its two sides. The growls are deep and intense, which only heightens the breaks of harmony. And the interplay throughout the instrumental "Nagheenanajar" is inspired. In fact, it's a song like this which proves the band's downfall -- it's so unique and creative, it only exemplifies those other (few) moments where the band seems to slide into a comfort zone and fall back on more cliched approaches to song construction (the repetitive chugging bass and typical hardcore guitar riffing, for one).

But what could appear cliche is also comfortable, and it's the comfortable nature of Defined by Struggle that will turn on fans of the genre. Then, the subtle things, like the little guitar nuances on "Confront", the crumbling breakdown in "Wrathbearer", the machine-gun drumming in "Archegos" and the great melodic chorus on "Sergeant Sorrow", which will keep fans interested.

Nodes of Ranvier isn't doing anything new, but it's doing it extremely well. This isn't one of the best albums of the year, but it is one of the strongest. Each track is an in-your-face assault of metal and hardcore bliss. The band isn't breaking any new ground, but it's managing to be extremely deliberate with its music. Sometimes you don't want surprise, you want simple yet new. While pretenders fall to the wayside, Nodes of Ranvier keep delivering the goods.

The Warriors -- 'Genuine Sense of Outrage' [review]

The Warriors - Genuine Sense of Outrage
Victory Records (8/7/07)
Hardcore


For any fans of the genre, The Warriors are offering up pure hardcore bliss. Genuine Sense of Outrage is stripped of the metal influence or death-metal-esque vocals littering today's so-called "hardcore" landscape. Think Hatebreed circa 1997 (Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire) or Remembering Never (Women and Children Die First). In fact, the only slim deviations from the typical hardcore sound comes in moments on "The Stone Grinds" with the slight melodic surges in guitar or the pseudo-rap on "Mankind Screams" and "Life Grows Cold". Everything else is blatant and in-your-face hardcore.

This is a turgid album, as the band does a hell of a job packing as much sick hardcore into each song as possible (13 tracks clocking in at just over half an hour). The infectious title track, with the mosh-pit breakdown chant of "this is a genuine sense of outrage" joins the breakneck drumming on "New Sun Rising", the out-of-leftfield mellower moments on "Silence is Bliss" and crisp, angry vocals that at times seem to channel Billy Graziadei of Biohazard. And unlike some other bands, The Warriors do a great job at varying up the songs and vocals enough to keep the tracks from blending together. Tracks like "Nothing Lasts" or "Odium Vice" are just as strong as opener "The Ruthless Sweep". To be honest, the first listen of this disc was done without a play list, and I assumed the band was getting ready to wrap up around "New Sun Rising" (the seventh track). Instead, it was only half done.

Everything has a sense of urgency; this album seems to have come out of nowhere and impresses completely. It'll be hard to ignore come year-end lists. But forget album-of-the-year shortlists. Songs like "Destroying Cenodoxus", "Nothing Lasts" and "Your Time Is Near" could easily fit on any best-of hardcore collection.

Genuine Sense of Outrage is The Warriors third album (though its first under the Victory label). The group's sound should appeal to a wide range of music fans -- there's just enough punk and metal influence in there, mixed with just the right amount of groove. And keep an ear open for a special vocal appearance from none other than Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister (a great performance, too).

In a year already full of notable metal releases, The Warriors shock us all and put out one of the strongest, most powerful hardcore album of the decade. Fans of the genre, or metal in general, will love this album. Everyone else could learn a thing or two...