Drowning Pool - Full Circle review

Release Date: 08/07/2007

Label: Eleven Seven Records

I put this CD in my stereo with low expectations. I've always wanted to like Drowning Pool right from the start. I hear a song of theirs that I like and instantly I think the entire CD will be just as good. It never is! So with these thoughts I placed the album slowly into my CD player and.....SHIT!

This album seriously brings the meh! I gave it several listens through and still nothing has grabbed my attention. Ryan McCombs vocals just seem to drone on like a million sleeping bagpipe players. I'm not entirely sure why everyone gives him such praise. I'd rather listen to my grandmother tell stories of how much she could purchase with a nickle in 1904. The strange thing is....I kinda like Soil. His vocals weren't as bowel wrenching back then. It might be the production, it might be the microphone he was using or it might be that his vocals simply don't mix well with Drowning Pool's mediocre song writing. Whatever it is, Full Circle is a step back for everyone involved.

There is a formula I like to call VCVCBC, which stands for Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Chorus. Its probably the most standard, overused song writing formula ever! All your favourites use this method of songwriting....Backstreet Boys, Hanson, Vanilla Ice. It's tried, it's tested and its been around forever. So when listening to Full Circle, play a game i created which is called "Pick the song that doesn't stick to the most basic of song writing formulas!" It's actually quite fun but extremely hard! And the good thing is....if you play with a friend....YOU BOTH WIN! That's because there is not one song that doesn't use this method, which by the end of the album leaves a bland taste in your mouth...much like a 2am cheeseburger from McDonalds.

Drowning Pool have always been one of those bands that have just kind of lingered around. You know that they are there but they just don't really deserve your attention. Step up Drowning Pool!

Rating: 1/5
Choice Lyric: "I've come to fall back down now"
Download: 37 Stitches

Trivium - The Crusade review

Release Date: 10/10/2006

Label: Roadrunner Records

Wow! The new Metallica album sure is a return to form! This is Metallica at their best! They have finally returned to their brilliant 'Master of Puppets' days!

If you wish the above statement was true...it can be. Here is what i did. Take a pen. Cross out the word Trivium from the album cover. Replace with the word Metallica. And voilà you have Metallica's latest album 'The Crusade'!

I'm not exactly sure when Matt Heafy woke up and realised he was James Hetfield trapped in a half American/half Japanese boys body, but it was sometime between the recording of
'Ascendancy' and the writing of 'The Crusade'. I absolutely love Metallica, and I'm a big fan of Trivium too but when did they become the same band?

So, your probably wondering if the album is any good. The sad truth is....yes...it actually is quite good. It starts off hard and won't stop until the end. It grabs you by the balls and twists them until you beg it to stop! And then....'The Anthem (we are the fire)' breaks down into the laughable "Woah-Oh, woooah-ooh!" bit and it somewhat releases your balls and gives them a gentle tickle. At which point you think...why the hell would someone put something so cheesy in an otherwise great song? Who knows? But it has become my most skip-able song of the week! Congratulations Triviumallica...Trivallica....Metrivium....ahh who gives a shit?

Rating: 4/5
Choice Lyric: "Woah-Oh, woooah-ooh!"
Download: Entrance of the Conflagration, Detonation