Review by Luka on June 4, 2001.

So what’s the secret of these masked metallers who took America by storm? And what is the underground scene to think about a band as brutal as this (by mainstream standards anyway) reaching such immense commercial success? Sure the album is dotted with all the nu-metal clichës and even has some rappy parts but majority of the album screams out ‘metal’! This stuff reminds me more of Slayer and Sepultura than Korn, the guitars are pounding out those down-tuned E-chords in catchy beats, the singer is yelling out in anger (manufactured, of course, but he gets the job done), and I’m pretty sure Joey could outdo many a death metal drummer.

But 9 guys in a band is a total joke. They would need only about four for this album, but I guess this is their way of distancing themselves from the crowd, thus probably reaching the level of fame that they achieved. The ‘scary’ masks helped too, but don’t judge a book by its cover. There’s actually a bit of talent and ingenuity buried in the music. My guess is that one or two of the members here grew up listening to Slayer or something and tried his best to emulate them, but still managed to please the new mall-core kids with all the little studio effects, the image, and the fake anger.

The songs are simple, reminiscent in structure to punk. Usually the normal verse/chorus/verse deal and a bunch of weird, industrial sound effects in the place of the solo, not much in between. There are some pretty nice verses, like on the heavy part of "Spit it Out" and choruses the likes of "Eyeless". It’s pretty catchy and it may not be true-bred metal but I like it. Most of the music is garbage, though. "Sic" is my favorite song because it blew me away with its simple and catchy intro and verse but the others are pretty similar to each other and it’s hard to tell them apart. I only remember that they were pretty weak.

Bottom Line: Nine guys wearing home-made masks mix death metal with rap, and get popular as hell. What the fuck? You might like a few tracks, but much of it is shit, though.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10