Screwtape

If Tool is too gnarly for some hard-rock fans, these guys might be an option. There could have had a real meaty, frothy, old school Metallica bite to this album but with half-hearted vocals, bland rhythms and symbol-driven drums, this foursome sounds like a bunch of guys scared away by… God only knows. The songs are also too long, all bordering on five minutes when two would have been plenty and might have made the album slightly more listenable on a volunteer basis. It is also an album annoyingly interfused with weird electronic interludes, from something you would hear on a meditation tape for insomniacs — weird rainforest sounds to industrial monster noises.