Staind - Break The Cycle
(Elektra, 2001)

The angst-ridden Break The Cycle is yet another dive into the polluted and crowded swimming pool of modern nu-metal. However, Staind are slightly more melodic than the rest of the pack, adding soft, compassionate passages vacumn-packed and ready for mainstream radio. The guitars can crunch nicely in parts, guitarist Mike Mushok clearly coming from the palm-muting Metallica school of metal, albeit with less skill. But this album carries little elsewhere, the majority of songs relying on one or two guitar riffs to push the weight. Because of this, the heavier songs tend to sound empty and uninteresting. Mushok also employs all the modern tricks in modern metal guitar, but doesn't ever stray from the preconcieved, never venturing into unknown territory. On the lighter side, the singles are quite melodic and most cases decent, but it's all derived from music we've heard before. Aaron Lewis's vocals succeed in most parts, but when he overdrives his voice into grindcore-style atonal shouting, it comes off no less than completely tiresome and irritating. If Staind want to stay contenders in the new decade, they must bring something else to the table, something we haven't heard before on Nirvana's Nevermind.

Rating: 2/5