Imagine my surprise when this CD dropped in my mailbox, weren’t these guys jumping a nu-metal bandwagon a few years back with relative success I’ve wondered to myself. After a brief research, thanks Wikipedia, I’ve found out that these are the indeed the same Nonpoint that used to be signed to Universal Records, reached the Billboard charts and toured with Disturbed, Papa Roach, Mudvayne, Sevendust and so on. Apparently these fellows have survived the nu-metal demise that thank god victimised various musical atrocities like Limp Bizkit. No? Damn, they were dead!
Anyway, Nonpoint has stuck to their guns, sustained various line-up problems and have miraculously (pun intended!) recorded a new record called “Miracle”.
So, the question that needs to be asked is if Nonpoint are still flogging a dead horse or if they’ve reinvented their sound and overhauled it to the present decade, to which I’ve to answer a bit of both. Their songs still straddle between crap-rock aimed for commercial radio airplay and a pretty solid slab of alt-metal that places them close to acts like Drowning Pool, Five Finger Death Punch and Mudvayne. Yep, the kind of metal that you’ll hear on WWE, UFC and Strike Force shows and only get you excited for a few moments before the real action begins.
Bottom line is that “Miracle” is an easily forgettable record for the standard metal enthusiast who seeks more substantial and demanding musical pieces, but could be a great gift for that girlfriend of yours who’s always complaining about the noise that comes out of your room and thinks Nickelback and Breaking Benjamin are the coolest rock bands around. (4/10)
Band info: www.nonpoint.com
Label info: www.poweragerecords.com
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