THE MORE I SEE

From "The MetalList" cookbook: take the heaviest moments of PAPA ROACH, add the softer edges of the reinvented METALLICA, and you get THE MORE I SEE — a band whose style fits the nu-metal label like a glove. On "The Wolves Are Hungry," you won't find mega-hit melodies, nor skull-crushing aggression. The material is aimed at the "average" ear that alternates between KORN and BLINK 182. That said, what sets THE MORE I SEE apart from both is their excellent, almost thrash-level technicality — at their best, parallels can be drawn with SYSTEM OF A DOWN's debut. The album is somewhat drawn out, but then again, which American alt-rock band isn't guilty of that? Twisting the band's name around — "the more I listen," the more I'm convinced the group has work to do. First, they should diversify their music — enduring half an hour of "street-tough hardcore" takes nothing short of heroism. Second, they need to part ways with the vocalist — the current one, to put it mildly, doesn't shine, openly copying Hetfield. After all, a distinctive vocal timbre sometimes secures a comfortable spot on the charts (take NICKELBACK, for instance). Third, they need proper PR. Nobody's going to hand them an Armenian pedigree, but there's always room for some cool stunt — sewing legs to a head, for example... Who knows, maybe then, in a couple of years, they'll record their own "Toxicity." For now, this opus earns a solid C.