SLAVE TO THE SYSTEM SLAVE TO THE SYSTEM Indie Release Produced by: Slave To The System Released: OUT NOW / Website Closest Relative: Stone Temple Pilots GENRE: Modern Rock

OVERALL: 74%

Stigmata Ruby Wednesday Love This Life Slave To The System Abyss Disinfected Gone Today Will You Be There Leaves Zero Walk The Line	You don't get many band with a better line-up than Slave To The System. The band features Damon Johnson and Roman Glick on vocals and guitar (Brother Cane), Scott Heard (Sweaty Nipples), Scott Rockenfield and Kelly Gray (Queensryche). What the band is, is nothing much like their previous efforts. This to me sounds very much like an individual effort and quite unique. Still, it remains very much a Seattle record. The album is not as grunge-commercial as you might have thought. This is a dark, modern rock record, with touches of the Seattle sound that rules the airwaves and continues to fuel bands like Creed. For fans of classic melodic rock, there's not too much to rave about. For fans of AOR there is nothing at all here for you. For others, that like a modern touch, don't mind the music having an aggressive edge and like singers with a tuned down approach and a slightly rough delivery, then read further. Opening track Stigmata has an appeal to it that wouldn't be far from what TNT were doing on their last record - just minus the melodic vocals of Tony Harnell.
Love This Life is an atmospheric, almost psychedelic pop ballad that I rate a highlight of the album, while Abyss and Disinfected feature production and vocal effects and some down and dirty guitar parts that Stone Temple Pilots would be pleased to call their own. BOTTOM LINE: For those that fit the profile, this album is a great addition to the modern rock genre. It was recorded in a heartbeat and has that rough, raw and stripped back charm that albums with real energy contain. Yet, the appeal of the direction taken has to be more limited now than at any time in the past 5 or 6 years. American FM radio, stuffed full on a 10 year diet of Pearl Jam, Nirvana and STP might now pass this over. It'd be a shame, as it is better than most before it. Still, if it's melodic rock or AOR you are searching for...keep looking...
PRODUCTION: 80%	SONGS: 79%	VIBE: 70%	ATTITUDE: 70%
ESSENTIAL FOR: Fans of modern hard rock, some fans of Brother Cane and Queensryche.