01. I’ve heard this intro before. Maybe on an old Testament record? Whatever the case, it gives way to that unmistakable Dimebag sound coupled with Vinnie Paul’s signature drums. Then a virtual Phil Anselmo-clone, albeit an uninspired one, delivers some hoarse-barked vocals: “Do you think that you’re better than me?” Yes, I do. You’re a fuckin’ poser, Pat Lachman. Why else would you wear a Dallas Cowboys beanie/skullcap on the back album cover? Are you now a Dallas Cowboys From Hell fan? Of course you are, hence you suckling up to Dimebag’s teat. The bass riffing from “one of the baddest ass bassists I’ve ever played with” [--Vinnie Paul (paraphrase)] is not as good as Rex Brown’s playing, and it certainly ain’t any better. Ugh. Juvenile lyrics are repeated all over the place. It sounded like it could’ve come from Judas Priest’s Jugulator. In fact, that is what the intro sounds like it’s from, for fuck’s sake.

02. This one everyone heard on MP3 prior to the album’s release. It is the most blatantly Pantera-esque track on the record, and thus the best one, too. After a Scott Travis-esque Jugulator-era drum lick to open the song [this was unheard on the edited MP3 that was available online], the madness begins. Trouble is, the lyrics are still immature, although perhaps more purposeful than those on the opener, but the vocal style is too hackneyed to be an homage to greatness. The whispered, then spoken, and then yelled intro lyrics are blatantly Anselmo’s.

03. Another track that was heard online prior to this album’s release could’ve easily been written between Cowboys From Hell and Vulgar Display of Power. The riffing clearly echoes the past and the vocals are alternatively gruff and semi-melodic -- there is even some singing. In fact, at one point there are blatant Pantera riffs and drum blasts, but I can’t be bothered to dig up the originals. These lyrics are again uninspired and none too different from those that preceded ‘em. This sounds like it was phoned in, for all practical intents and purposes.

04. More of that Jugulator sound is on this song’s intro. Seriously, folks, the Abbotts have gone back to being Judas Priest fans, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I expected more -- a lot more -- from the “most important post-Thrash Metal band” of the 90s. Uh-oh. Nü-metal guitar sounds and nü-metal vocal stylings are here. Then there’s an almost Alice in Chains sounding vocal pattern that would make Layne Staley ride his white horse back into this world and kick Lachman’s unoriginal ass. What a shame.

05. Great Dimebag leads that you’ve heard before open this track along with some pseudo tribal drumming, but then a very nü-metal “fuck you fuck you fuck you” lyric batch appears. Oh, the song is called “Fuck You” – it could’ve easily been a Slipknot song ‘cause Lachman is now emulating that band’s lead clown. Wait. That is the clown on the second verse. Once thought improbable, this only gets more Slipknot-like with a very nü-metal spoken word thing under a vocorder effect. Wow. More Dimebag leads that you’ve already heard abound over the obvious nü-metal leanings, but this cannot be saved. The bad far outweighs the good.

06. A slow groove and some techno (!!!) sounding noise give you “Reborn,” a song that was also available pre-album release. Here the vocalist is emulating Tim “Ripper” Owens and that guy from the second line-up of Geezer [Geezer Butler’s band -- Clarke Brown, I believe]. The groove riffing is good, but perhaps too slow and not backed up by anything meaningful. Boring riffing is accompanied by “you want a piece of me? Come get some” for lyrics. This is truly dreadful and borrows poorly from Pantera’s “Becoming.” Oh, this one had Zakk Wylde on lead guitars. Too bad he was alternatively sounding like Kerry King and Dimebag. Who knew?

07. “Explode.” Boring nü-metal stylings all the way through. In fact, this kind of sub-riffing has already been used on this record. This deserves no more commentary other than to say that Dime’s lead screeches have also already appeared as such earlier on this record. Did I mention that the repetitious lyrics are painful to hear, not to mention the vocal stylings? I definitely hear some Static X creeping in there, and while I will admit to liking that band’s first two albums, this is unacceptable for any band that claims to have one of the greatest lead guitarists of all time in it.

08. Another Pantera riff you’ve already heard opens this one... but then you hear some clean vocals that is nothing like anything that was on the songs before it. It sounds like Godsmack was a huge influence at this point. That and arena rock. What a boring riff, too. At least it ain’t nü-metal. This is clearly their stab at radio play. Definitely accessible, although Dimebag’s leads are getting poorer and poorer, as are the riffs.

09. This one opens with a Pantera drum sequence from the Far Beyond Driven album. “Cold blooded, ice in my veins; ice in my veins.” Is that why you are a poor vocalist, Lachman? Put on a jacket if you’re so cold. For those that derided Anselmo’s lyrics as “tough guy lyrics concentrating on image more than substance” I challenge you to read these. This is an exercise in perseverance. Terrible. The spoken [hardcore style?] vocal patterns are borrowed heavily from Cowboys From Hell.

10. Boring intro bass riff from Bobzilla. *Yawn* Is this record over yet? Oh, another pretty decent Dimebag riff that I just know is about to fall flat appears. The intro riff simply lasts too long. Then there are more tough guy lyrics delivered in a Ripper/Anselmo style with some squawking and squealing Dimebag-isms that have already been heard on this record. This sounds phoned in like so much of this album. They even lift a lyric from themselves: “new found power pumping through my veins.”

11. Guess what time it is, kiddies? More nü-metal time, that’s what. This could’ve been on Machine Head’s Supercharger or Burning Red albums, but with Sully from Godsmack on vocals. This sounds like it is a sincere attempt to steal some of Godsmack’s fanbase. Oh, no! At times there aren’t even organic drums! Vinnie Paul, what happened? Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

12. This song was borrowed from someone else and slowed down. I think it’s a Megadeth riff severely slowed down and coupled with some nü-metal vocals and Pantera grooves. Lemme see. The Megadeth song is off the Countdown to Extinction album, that much I can recall. Hmmm.... “Hello me, meet the real me....” It’s gotta be “Sweating Bullets” but much slower. Damageplan call the song “Blunt Force Trauma” and that’s what listening to it is like, but not in a good way, no, not at all. This song does boast a new guitar sound, at least as it regards this album. The lead is almost echoed most of the way through the song but then it falls into a Guns n’ Roses sounding harmony before it goes back to ripping off Mustaine again.

13. Purposely slow, quasi-Thrash riffing with drumbeats that sound like St. Anger outtakes [thankfully with better production, though] give way to the coolest guitar sounds of all on this record. Too bad the rest of this song is gonna suck -- that’s my prediction now. Oh, and does it ever suck. This sounds a lot like the vocalist from Jake E. Lee’s Badlands recordings. Wow. Lachman is all over the place but all of it’s bad. Uninspired. Oh, I’ve used that word already? How about ‘lackluster’ then? Okay. Lackluster.

14. “Soul Bleed” ends the album with cool acoustic riffing that sounds like Dimebad [oops, that’s a typo, but I’ll leave it in because it’s funny in a very appropriate way] stole a BLS song. Then Lachman moans in a Layne Staley fashion [again] giving way to more Alice in Chains moments. Zakk Wylde is on backup vocals, too. What poor lyrics, though: “Come and look inside, hope you like what you see, and if you run and hide, you’re scared of what is me.” There is a very Planet Caravan [as covered by Pantera] sounding lead guitar with less than 2 minutes to go coupled with some very GnR strumming and synthesizers that scream “RADIO PLAY!!!” And then those poorman’s AiC vocals [with Zakk screamin’ in the background!]. Wow. This song is so much less than the sum of its parts.

Overall, this album is only so much tripe. Maybe I expected too much of the brothers Abbott. That much is probably true. But this definitely does not sound like a Pantera record. If this was supposed to be the next Pantera album, I can clearly see why it caused Phil to leave the group [etc.]. It’s awful. Really. In a few words: uninspired, boring, hackneyed, tired. Much like I feel after listening to it. Again.

written by Tony Belcher

Playing time: 58.28