castledoom.com

[ExarKun]

This had to have been the biggest leap for a CD purchase in a long time. While I used to love the whole "Rap/Metal" scene I had grown tired of it as of the past 5 or so years.

Here comes Linkin Park, a band I thought I too had grown out of, until the newest CD came out. I had heard the rap had been toned down, and surprisingly they did, only one song on the CD sounds like the typical hip hop rapcore metal Linkin Park of the early 00's. Now is replaced a melodic U2 meets Nine Inch Nails band.

In fact there is only two songs on the entire 12 track CD that even utilize rapping chorus, and both seem to be used in a very well way.
The rest of the CD is either Heavy Metal at its finest, or almost U2 re-incarnated in the form of the lead vocalist. It is a very interesting feeling the CD brings off.

On top of that social thoughts spur on the track and instead of the normal mindless rants against wars there seems to be a well thought out opinion, something rare in some of today's rockers.

Over all I was pleased to see a band such as Linkin Park create a CD I enjoyed greatly, and showed they had more depth than screaming/raping/and throwing blistering guitars down.

[JuntaJoe]

It's one thing to be cutting edge.

But then sooner or later everyone is like you.

Staying on the cutting edge is quite another thing entirely.

Good to see this band realizing this.

[ExarKun]

Well in Linkin Park's case, cutting edge rapcore metal and eletronica isn't the in thing anymore, even with people in the early part of the decade copying them.

It is more emo as the it thing, Rap Metal peroid has died with the expection of P.O.D. and KoRn, both do okay in sales, and generally get decent cd reviews, but the days of Linkin Park rap metal, or Limp Bizkit is gone.

Along with that, the "nu" metal style Linkin Park helped formed, which was snatched up with such bands as Staind, Godsmack, Disturbed, and Earshot have all but gone. Minus Disturbed, all of those bands keep trying to use the old styles and don't seel hardly any at all.

Disturbed though like Linkin Park learned that rap metal, and nu metal, just doesn't sell like it did 6-8 years ago.