On paper, Rage Against The Machine reads like Beavis, Boogie Down Productions and Butt-Head: an angry and enlightened rap frontman who preaches a multi-cultural alternative to what they teach you in schools and show you on TV, backed by a funky heavy metal rhythm section whose vampage and riffing pay direct tribute to the likes of the Edgar Winter Group and Led Zeppelin.

There's no sense of fusion here. Neither a metal band toying with rap nor a rap group fronting as a rock band, R.A.T.M. is four guys who were never told that there's a difference, and who don't care to know. The knowledge-is-good-but-schools-are-bad rap, "Take The Power Back," gives way to a metal instrumental bridge; and the guitar that introduces the Martin/Malcolm/Cassius homage, "Wake Up," pays its own tribute to Zeppelin's "Kashmir." The closest spiritual--but not stylistic--reference point are the alternative raps of the Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy; and Rage's "Bullet In The Head" may be the best song about TV since the Heroes' "Television, The Drug Of The Nation."

Rapper Zack De La Rocha has a thin voice that sounds more like a bored suburban thrasher than an inner-city rhyme animal, but his lyrics are something else altogether. Rising high above the nihilism of both hard-core rap and punk, he offers not just good slogans for a t-shirt, but the promise of a system to replace the one he's bent on destroying. His is a revolution with a purpose.

Cannibal CD
  by Static-X
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A reinvigorated Static-X welcome original guitar slinger Koichi Fukuda back into the fold with the unleashing of CANNIBAL (the metal quartet's fifth full-length for Warner Brothers). Urgent industrial grooves clash with brutally grooving riffs, making CANNIBAL a return to form for the group. After a foray into a somewhat more melodic vocal approach for START A WAR (2005) and SHADOW ZONE (2003), vocalist/rhythm guitarist Wayne Static's beloved angst-ridden style dominates on "Chroma-Matic," "Reptile," and others. And the band's self-proclaimed "evil disco" side shines on "Behemoth" and "Electric Pulse," while Fukuda's guitar-hero soloing keeps things decidedly metal.

Alternative Press (p.155) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he relentless riffs and pummeling drums, leavened with occasional dashes of electronics, perfectly soundtrack the first-person shooter video game playing in your head."

Static-X: Koichi Fukuda, Wayne Static (guitar); Tony Campos (bass guitar); Nick Oshiro (drums).


  Transistor CD
  by 311
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311's fourth release on Capricorn has an aggressive energy that proves the band to be more than just a one-trick pony. On TRANSISTOR, 311 remains true to their basic musical premise; straightforward hard rock spliced together with hip-hop, funk, and dub influences. This release shows 311 growing as a band. Instead of continually blending genres together, the group isolates the individual elements of their sound for a more cohesive effect.

This directional change allows for mellower numbers as well as the more aggressive, rocking sound the band is known for. TRANSISTOR is an eclectic, soulful collection of songs that secures 311's position as a major force in the hard rock scene.

All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.


  Devil Without A Cause CD
  by Kid Rock
Our Price: $10.75 CD
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In the grand tradition of Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc. genre-hopper Kid Rock chooses to lay down his raps over a bed of rock-oriented electric guitar riffs instead of traditional hip-hop tracks and beats. Unlike the aforementioned groups though, Kid Rock comes off more like an adventurous hip-hopper than a rocker with a Public Enemy jones. In an effort to prove himself as "street" as his more conventional rap peers, Rock combines his rockish arrangements with gangsta-derived lyrics full of boasts and sexual braggadocio. DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE will appeal to both rock fans in search of something different and hip-hop listeners who like a little rock in their rap.

Personnel: Joe C. (rap vocals); Kenny Olson (guitar); Jason Krause (electric guitar); Jimmy Bones (keyboards); Stefanie Eulinberg (drums); Tweeds Kracker (turntables); Misty Love, Shirley Hayden (background vocals).


  Make Yourself CD
  by Incubus
Our Price: $$9.59 CD / $9.99 MP3
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Take the apocalyptic, electronics-tinged riff-rock of bands like Korn. Subtract the fratboy sensibility and the Red Hot Chili Peppers-derived hip-hop rhythms. Add a sophisticated sense of melody and harmony, a more optimistic lyrical outlook, and a sense of dynamics. You've essentially got the Incubus sound. Incubus practices the kind of rapid intra-song mood shifts that were Nirvana's trademark, but instead of merely going from soft to loud and back, they change stylistically, switching from full-on hard rock to almost jangly, low-key alt-rock. The resultant sound should appeal to fans of both styles. The tasteful application of electronic effects updates the feel of MAKE YOURSELF nicely.

There's plenty of teeth-gnashing and shrieking angst to be found in the lyrics, but there's hopefulness and pop-friendly catchiness as well. In the world of late-'90s radio rock, Incubus seems capable of being all things to all people.

[Incubus] still rock the night away, but they've mellowed out considerably on the smooth-movin' MAKE YOURSELF."


  Road To Revolution: Live At Milton Keynes CD
  by Linkin Park
Our Price: $19.25 CD
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Captured in front of a massive crowd in England during their Projekt Revolution tour, the music on Linkin Park's ROAD TO REVOLUTION finds the platinum-selling nu-metal survivors in peak form. At 18 tracks, many of the band's most popular songs are present, including two mash-ups featuring Jay-Z, and the sound quality is superb. Despite the sometimes complex nature of Linkin Park's music, they pull off every song with aplomb, proving that they are hardly a studio construction. At over 80 minutes (and with an accompanying live DVD), the set is a fairly complete picture of the band's career up to this point. It begins with a moody, slow-burn version of "From the Inside," building up with Mike Shinoda's rapping until singer Chester Bennington catches hold of the chorus. Like most of their material, it mixes metal angst, hip-hop's staccato rhythms, and Depeche Mode-like atmosphere and drama. Other hits, like "Numb" and "In the End," are given stirring performances. By the time Jay-Z shows up for "Numb/Encore," the mood is a celebratory one, a victory lap for a band that outgrew and outlasted a trend.

Kerrang (Magazine) (p.48) - "ROAD TO REVOLUTION is the next best thing to reliving a night which has rightfully earned legendary status."


  Confession CD
  by Ill Nino
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It's perhaps logical that this latest exercise in combining swaying Latin rhythms and full-on heavy metal would come from the swamps of New Jersey-certain parts of the state have long been fertile territory for metal in its hydra-headed manifestations. CONFESSION, Ill Nino's sophomore album, builds and improves upon the band's integration of the two musical forms in a tour de force of titanium-throated vocals, hairpin rhythms, and speaker-shredding guitars.

The Latin influence manifests itself in percussive shadings and a melodicism on tracks such as "Lifeless-Life" and "Unframed" that push the band beyond stock metal riffing. The music even bears a certain lilt-not a word usually associated with the foundation-shaking bass and breakneck drumming of the genre-that sets Ill Nino apart from most of its Jersey-based contemporaries and more than a few national acts to boot. Though the combination of Hispanic culture and metal isn't new, Ill Nino certainly displays enough confidence and natural-born swagger on CONFESSION to make it seem that way.

Recording information: Mirror Image Recorders, New York, NY; Water Music Recorders, Hoboken, NJ.


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