Deftones - White Pony - MP3 Music

Depth, layers, twisting and turning textures...this is what "White Pony" is all about! The boys have done it again, continuing with the growth evident from "Adrenaline" to "Around The Fur". A stand-out album in 2000 and in the whole genre.

The seething, boiling rage is still there - pure and untouched. It's just channeled and expressed with more maturity, nuance and sophistication now. The Deftones make more use of texture, contrast and atmosphere/space in the music on this album to get their point across. It makes the music more compelling and even more dark and haunting...listen to the brilliance of "Digital Bath" and "Rx Queen" to hear what I mean -- brooding rage played with grace and finesse.

There's more variety here...different song structures, experimentation with different beats, layers and instrumentation, more contrasting sound choices...but make no mistake, THIS IS THE DEFTONES. 

They have not made the classic mistake of "growing" so much that they sound disjointed, incoherent...or like another band altogether. It still bears the classic Deftone scars....relentless, oppressive, biting guitars, pounding bass, precise, grooving drums...and Chino's sensual, keening, expressive vocals.

Some of the best, most aggressive riffs the Deftones have come up with are on this album...check out the fury of "Elite" and the syncopated, chunky metal-laden "Street Carp." More textures and sounds coaxed out of the guitars on this release.

Also, Chino has grown by leaps and bounds. His sultry, whispery howl is still present...but he explores the higher registers more often (singing, not screaming) and there is more modulation and shading to his voice, more of a sense of melody and nuance. And there's vocal harmonies at some points...a virtual first for the Deftones. They work. But do not fear -- Chino's blood-curdling, savage screaming intensity is still in full force.

Once again, the secret weapon of this band is Abe Cunningham...the drumming on "White Pony" is full of precision, monstrous grooves, tension and release, and coloring and subtlety. Abe gives the songs breath, momentum and finesse.

Some of the better tracks are "Feiticiera", "Digital Bath, "Knife Party", "Korea" and "Passenger" - a collaboration with Maynard James Keenan of Tool and A Perfect Circle.

Stone Sour - House of Gold & Bones Part One

House Of Gold & Bones Part One is in my opinion, their greatest album yet. It may not be as heavy but bands change over time and Stone Sour is progressing into a more mature direction. They grew out of the typical metal scene and are getting better with age. It contains more ballads like "Taciturn" and "The Travelers pt 1 & 2" heavier tracks such as "RU486" and "Absolute Zero". There's a lot of variety throughout that ranges from heavy metal, alternative rock and post-grunge. There's a good variety of hard rock and ballads, quality songwriting also and it's what today's hard rock and metal bands are lacking in today. Most of my favorite rock bands are from late '70s-early '80s era but this is one of the best rock albums in a long time. Audio Secrecy also had potential but it sounded like it was too rushed and they weren't ready for a change in direction, here they perfected their sound and it's more complete. It's easily their crowning achievement but that's open for debate too.

Lamb of God - Sacrament

After taking a few albums to establish their modern update of classic thrash and death metal, Lamb of God have reached the top of their game. This album is jam packed with maturing songwriting ideas and increasing instrumental prowess. Sacrament is a little less dramatic, but much more solid, than the nearly-masterful Ashes of the Wake. The band's crowning glory is still their fearsome rhythm section; with terrifyingly precise drummer Chris Adler and the lowdown gutbucket bass of John Campbell (he's so low that maybe only Satan can fully hear him). Guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler are improving noticeably, especially with their solos and the creativity of their thrash riffs. Randy Blythe's vocals continue to be a bit of a drawback, because he sounds pretty stereotypical when he stays in his usual guttural cookie monster growl. However, Blythe is showing signs of greater excitement when he decides to stretch beyond his normal range, and he is certainly rising above the style of today's standard metal screamer. The politics of Blythe's lyrics are still muddled, though his sheer angry misanthropy and anti-establishment rants are getting pretty interesting.

Lamb of God's growth as songwriters can be heard in two extra noteworthy tracks here. "Redneck" adds a sly southern rock twist to a blistering riff, over Blythe's diatribe about a certain highly-placed (ahem) redneck; while the turgid slow burn of "Descending" offers great drama and a growing sense of dynamics. One recurring problem on Lamb of God's previous albums was that songs would become sluggish and repetitive after the initial riffs outlived their usefulness, but here that problem is mostly avoided through more creative arrangements, except in parts of "Walk With Me in Hell" (which frankly is not a good choice for album opener), and "Blacken the Cursed Sun." However, the band is becoming much better at adding occasional quiet passages and creative effects, which make their usual heaviness, stand out much more strongly. Examples include the savage one-two punch of "Forgotten (Lost Angels)" and "Requiem," plus the accurately-titled piledrivers "Foot to the Throat" and "More Time to Kill." Like the greatest long-lived metal bands, Lamb of God has now transcended their category, and is in a category by themselves. This is the new standard of pure American metal.

Primal Fear - Devil's Ground

When I listen to Primal Fear I hear mostly Judas Priest with elements of Halford, Iron Maiden and maybe a little Dio thrown in there as well. I love all those bands so to me that is not a bad thing at all. They are definitely old school power metal with some speed metal thrown in for good measure. I just wish there were more bands today like Primal Fear that played this style of metal. My personal favorites on this disc are Suicide and Mania, Visions of Hate, Sea of Flames, and Heart of Brave. I'm not all that crazy about metal anthems. I don't think its necessary to sing about the greatness of heavy metal. You either think its great or don't. That being said, as metal anthems go, Metal is Forever is better than most. Track 12 with the spoken message about hell doesn't really add anything to the album but doesn't necessarily take anything away either. Even though I would have liked to see how great Ralf Scheepers would have been with Priest, in a way I'm glad he didn't get the job. Otherwise we might not have Primal Fear. Sometimes things happen for a reason. Overall a solid effort definitely worth picking up.