GODSMACK - IV Review

On its sixth album, this Boston band's sound is still mired in new-metal darkness, underpinning Sully Erna's constipated yowl with stylized guitar sludge. Though "No Rest for the Wicked" works up headbang-able thrash and "Voodoo Too" sports some eerie tabla-driven psychedelics, most of these retrograde barnburners suggest the dregs of Ozzfest....full text We like Metallica, too, but we’re not yet convinced of the need for a second band that sounds exactly fucking like them. Actually, that’s not really fair: Godsmack steals almost as liberally from Alice in Chains. Between the strafing guitars, supremely dreary arrangements, and Sully Erna’s guttural bellowing, Godsmack’s fourth album—like the three that preceded it—never rises the group above the level of a totally competent cover band....full text "Can't break this trend," bellows Sully Erna. Truer words were never spoken. IV, the -- yes -- fourth album from Erna and his old industrial-tinged post-grunge outfit Godsmack, is every bit as original as its title.

Same downtuned guitars chugging and roaring like dinosaurs. Same tom-toms rolling like tumbling boulders. Same huffing, puffing, testosterone-fuelled Vedder vocals and brooding lyrics about Sully's feelings....full text