Damage Plan-New Found Power(2004)[Elektra]
01. "Wake Up"
02. "Breathing New Life"
03. "New Found Power"
04. "Pride"
05. "Fuck You"
06. "Reborn"
07. "Explode"
08. "Save Me"
09. "Cold Blooded"
10. "Crawl"
11. "Blink of An Eye"
12. "Blunt Force Trauma"
13. "Moment of Truth"
14. "Soul Bleed"
Well, this is my first review of this forum so if I do anything wrong don't crucifiy me if I mispell any words wrong.
Before I start my review, I going for a little speech that will lead into it. No one can deny the impact that Pantera had on the 1990's heavy metal scene, as many bands adopt their style into their music. After the release of the subpared Reinventing The Steel, Pantera disappeared with the exception of Philip Anselmo, who went on to do his many projects. Later on, he decided to go with SuperJoint Ritual, a band that I have not that big of fondness for, as I think it lacks the direction or power that Pantera had. Around 2003, the other two members of Pantera, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell Abbott decided to go with a new band(Pantera's bassist Rex Brown went on to do something with Crowbar). Later on, the band was joined by Patrick Latchman from Diseal Machine and Rob Halford's solo band before he went back to Judas Priest who join in as a vocalist as oppose to a guitarist. So, how does this new band stack up....
My first listen of New Found Power proved that I listen to alot of people who have said that this band is nu-metal(a stupid trend in itself I might add) or it sucks testicles. Since then, I have listen to this with a obsession and I quite enjoy it. As I said above, the one thing that I dislike about Anselmo's SuperJoint Ritual is the lack of diversity and direction, while this album is very diverse. True, it's not the most complex or groundbreaking album I ever heard, but it's still better than hearing the same song with different lyrics.
Alot of reviews have compare this album to Pantera. I think this is stupid cause this is entirely new beast. True, some songs have a similar sound to Pantera but that's mainly cause you have the two founding members of that band in this band. I think the music is simple but not nu-metal, as the songs do not sound the same at all. let's not forget that old-school metal bands like Black Sabbath and/or Judas Priest never wrote really complex music, but they wrote very good music, and I think of Damage Plan of being quite good. Vocallly, Latchman is very diverse and quite listenable, unlike Anselmo nowadays. Some of his scream do get a little irritating, but it's better than say Linkin Park or any really bad '80's metal band(like Grim Reaper). He got alot of old-school metal in him, as well as a little Layne Stanley(RIP) of Alice In Chains in him. Sure, he does sound a little like Anselmo, but it doesn't sound all that alike.
Of course, I think the production is rather lacking some of the crunch I would expect, but I guess they were going for the moody/groove heaviness, not the downtuned heaviness done by bands nowadays. I also admit that some of the songs do get a little longwinded, but they aren't really that bad.
I say buy this album, and ignore the underground/"true" metal bullshit we get nowadays.
Peace,
Jacob Spencer
01. "Wake Up"
02. "Breathing New Life"
03. "New Found Power"
04. "Pride"
05. "Fuck You"
06. "Reborn"
07. "Explode"
08. "Save Me"
09. "Cold Blooded"
10. "Crawl"
11. "Blink of An Eye"
12. "Blunt Force Trauma"
13. "Moment of Truth"
14. "Soul Bleed"
Well, this is my first review of this forum so if I do anything wrong don't crucifiy me if I mispell any words wrong.
Before I start my review, I going for a little speech that will lead into it. No one can deny the impact that Pantera had on the 1990's heavy metal scene, as many bands adopt their style into their music. After the release of the subpared Reinventing The Steel, Pantera disappeared with the exception of Philip Anselmo, who went on to do his many projects. Later on, he decided to go with SuperJoint Ritual, a band that I have not that big of fondness for, as I think it lacks the direction or power that Pantera had. Around 2003, the other two members of Pantera, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell Abbott decided to go with a new band(Pantera's bassist Rex Brown went on to do something with Crowbar). Later on, the band was joined by Patrick Latchman from Diseal Machine and Rob Halford's solo band before he went back to Judas Priest who join in as a vocalist as oppose to a guitarist. So, how does this new band stack up....
My first listen of New Found Power proved that I listen to alot of people who have said that this band is nu-metal(a stupid trend in itself I might add) or it sucks testicles. Since then, I have listen to this with a obsession and I quite enjoy it. As I said above, the one thing that I dislike about Anselmo's SuperJoint Ritual is the lack of diversity and direction, while this album is very diverse. True, it's not the most complex or groundbreaking album I ever heard, but it's still better than hearing the same song with different lyrics.
Alot of reviews have compare this album to Pantera. I think this is stupid cause this is entirely new beast. True, some songs have a similar sound to Pantera but that's mainly cause you have the two founding members of that band in this band. I think the music is simple but not nu-metal, as the songs do not sound the same at all. let's not forget that old-school metal bands like Black Sabbath and/or Judas Priest never wrote really complex music, but they wrote very good music, and I think of Damage Plan of being quite good. Vocallly, Latchman is very diverse and quite listenable, unlike Anselmo nowadays. Some of his scream do get a little irritating, but it's better than say Linkin Park or any really bad '80's metal band(like Grim Reaper). He got alot of old-school metal in him, as well as a little Layne Stanley(RIP) of Alice In Chains in him. Sure, he does sound a little like Anselmo, but it doesn't sound all that alike.
Of course, I think the production is rather lacking some of the crunch I would expect, but I guess they were going for the moody/groove heaviness, not the downtuned heaviness done by bands nowadays. I also admit that some of the songs do get a little longwinded, but they aren't really that bad.
I say buy this album, and ignore the underground/"true" metal bullshit we get nowadays.
Peace,
Jacob Spencer
