It might be familiar sounding, but done oh so well
After a decade of relentless touring and a string of successful albums, Massachusetts (U.S.) based heavy rock outfit Godsmack finally put together a best of package in the form of Good Times, Bad Times... Ten Years of Godsmack in 2007. While the best of celebrated the band’s long and successful career together, it also allowed the four piece act (who comprise vocalist/rhythm guitarist Sully Erna, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Tony Rombola, bassist/backing vocalist Robbie Merrill and drummer/backing vocalist Shannon Larkin) to take a well earned break from the scene.
Now, after a couple of years away from the spotlight, Godsmack are back with their fifth full-length effort The Oracle, which is their long awaited follow-up to 2006’s IV.
In the lead up to the album’s release, the band claimed that the experimentation heard on IV would be scaled back, and that the heaviness of the band’s first couple of releases would be a dominant factor in determining the band’s sound on their new album. And sure enough, Godsmack certainly delivers on their promise with a vengeance throughout The Oracle.
The opening track/first single Cryin’ Like a Bitch (which is rumoured to be aimed at Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx) is everything you could possibly ask from a Godsmack song, with Erna’s vocal performance a ball of seething rage, while the heavy duty riffs and pummelling backing from the rest of the band sounding both addictive and catchy at the same time.
The follow up track Saints and Sinners (the original title the album was given before being changed) follows a similar path to the opener with the band hammering out some heavy grooves mixed with catchy choruses, while the faster paced War and Peace continues the string of strong songs on the album with impeccable consistency.
The new single Love-Hate-Sex-Pain is not surprisingly one of the band’s trademark Alice In Chains-like brooding efforts that the band does quite well, with Rombola’s dominant guitar work and the piano towards the tail end adding that something different from what Godsmack has delivered in the past.
The tribalistic drumming and the dynamics in the guitar tones within the lengthy What If? help the song stand out as one of the album’s true highlights, while the swinging Devil’s Swing (which includes some cool harmonica work), the belting Good Day to Die and the jagged pairing up of Forever Shamed and Shadow of a Soul maintain the album’s line of strong written efforts.
In fact, it’s only the closing instrumental title track The Oracle that the band shows any weakness in the song writing department. While the song itself isn’t a bad effort, their efforts to mimic something along the lines of Metallica does fall a little short of sounding completely memorable.
Despite the shortcomings of the title track, Godsmack have put together a great album, and one that easily stands alongside the band’s highly regarded debut effort from 1998.
Godsmack may not be the most original sounding band, but they do what they do incredibly well. And that’s more than enough a reason for fans to get a hold of The Oracle without delay.
(Universal Republic Records/Universal Music Australia)
