Of all the Nu-metal bands out there, Spineshank is far and
away my favorite. I've always loved their industrial touches they add to their
music, the raw aggressive approach to their instruments and Johnny Santos'
vocals. "The Height of Callousness" and "Self destructive
Pattern" get regular listens to this today. However, those two albums of
gold would be sandwiched between two lackluster releases in comparison.
"Strictly Diesel" was released in 1998 and is as you would imagine,
Nu-metal to the bone. The music on this album is nowhere near the level of the
following release, staying true to a more simplistic, minimal technique formula
with a little hip hop and electronics thrown into the mix. I might even go out
on a limb and say that many aspects of this album could be called progressive
Nu-metal? I guess, I'm address the issue, that some songs have a less aggressive
tone at the start and build into their choruses. Maybe? Either way, this is not
a bad album. It's not gold, but it's not trash either. The music here, aside
from sounding exactly like it the era it dropped in, is raw and untapped in
ability. In many of the songs, you can hear the combination of harsh and soft
vocals they would begin to fine tune on their next two releases, but on
"Strictly Diesel" they seem just a bit unrefined. The guitars and
drums are incredibly vanilla in flavor, but not imitation vanilla if you get my
drift. In their defense, I will say that the vanilla approach works for this
album, because if Santos would have tried to belt out the vocals used on either
of the following releases, this album would be abysmal. Instead, they played the
correct balance needed to achieve their sound and his vocals. Again, the use of
electronics adds an underlying industrial sound, which adds a nice layer to the
overall atmosphere, but they would really learn to use it in the near future.
The cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" shows off the best
aspects of their style, giving it an interesting change of sound. So, all in
all, this is not the greatest of Nu-metal albums, nor is it Spineshank's best,
but I would recommend it for those wondering what Nu-metal was all about. It's
a nice start to a mildly successful stint the band would soon create for
themselves.
Highlights: "Stove Bolt" "Intake"
"Where We Fall" "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
Rating: 3
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