Weight of the World

The vocalist looks ready for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the guitarist is black, the bass player was kidnapped from a hairy metal band, and the drummer looks like seventy percent of the male actors in Los Angeles. Oh, and they're loud. They've got a lot going for them too -- unusually intelligent lyrics that actually do something, good chops, a great drum sound (and a drummer who wrote or co-wrote most of the songs) and a singer who isn't half bad. They verge mainly on the thrash side of hard rock/heavy metal, which is unfortunate for the opening number, which gets trashed by tempo and style changes after starting out as a real ear-cruncher of some character. The album settles down after that to serve up some punk/metal hybrid material that's pretty decent. Guitarist Richie "Stretch" Acham is excellent, knowing just when to let loose and just when to pull back, while drummer Ernie and bassist Matt Citarella do some nice things with the rhythm end -- "I Don't Wanna Back," the obligatory road number, is one of the best numbers on the album thanks to the drum and bass work. And right after that you get to hear Acham let loose on the Zappa-ish "Turnaround."