The seventh album from this troupe of Massachusetts alt-metalers relies on a familiar formula, alternating between petulant ballads and noisily crunching cacophony. The constant is Aaron Lewis’s blindly swatting rage at whatever it is that pits the world and its women against him. "Eyes Wide Open" rages against a lover’s unspecified "self-serving plan" atop theatrical guitar shredding, while the power-balladry of "Failing" echoes their 2001 hit "It's Been Awhile" with broad guitar bombast and Lewis's heartily sung heartbreak refrain. Then Lewis raps about tiny dogs and nasty, food-based sexual acts with a cadence that doesn't have the slightest prayer of rhyming ("Wannabe") and the entire thing implodes spectacularly.
Listen to "Failing":
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