 
|
|
|
Page 1
|
|
|
Sully Erna disses the polished, lemony-fresh scent of 'Pledge bands' Creed and Nickelback ...
|
|
|
Page 2
|
|
|
Godsmack indulge in rock clichés, replacing their drummer and diving naked from the roof of a house ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Click here to enter MTV's "Voodoo Tribe Party with Godsmack" sweepstakes
|
|
|
|
|
|
Browse Bands by Name
|
|
Or enter a band name below to search:
|
 Bands Main
|
|
|
|
|
|
-- by Jon Wiederhorn
The producer of MTV's Godsmack interview is having a minor problem with frontman Sully Erna. The singer is alert and in a good mood, but he's wearing a baseball cap that covers his eyes.
"Would you mind taking off your hat so we can film your whole face?" the producer asks.
"I bet you would never say that to Fred f---in' Durst," Erna snaps, flashing a cocky grin.
When he's told that the Limp Bizkit frontman also refused to doff his cap during an interview, Erna replies, "That's because he has bad f---in' hair. I got hair. He's bald."
For Erna, a simple request to remove his hat is a challenge, and when he's challenged he gets defensive. Though it looked like he might come out swinging, he quickly composes himself and settles back into his chair. He may ride a motorcycle, wear a giant pentagram belt buckle and bare his bruised knuckles at naysayers from time to time, but Erna insists his bark is worse than his fight.
"I definitely don't walk around with a chip on my shoulder," he says. "I just look scary. The outer shell is tough, but the inside is pudding.
"So eat me!" he adds after a pause.
Erna's past has been mired with hardships and confrontations. His dad walked out on the family when Erna was growing up in Lawrence, Massachusetts. When he was 15, gang members stormed his house to beat him up, causing the family to uproot to North Carolina. Shortly after Godsmack formed, Erna was evicted from his place and lived in his van. And just three years ago, he and some friends were attacked by a man with a hammer.
His experiences have effectively oiled the attitude and aggression of Godsmack, which includes guitarist Tony Rombola, drummer Shannon Larkin and bassist Robbie Merrill in addition to Erna. Faceless, the follow-up to 2000's Awake, is a stomping, straightforward metal album that pulls no punches. Sure, Godsmack uncompromisingly batter the same aggressive turf they've successfully pounded since their 1998 self-titled debut, but they reap rewards for their single-mindedness. In an age when hugely successful hard rockers like Creed, Nickelback and Puddle of Mudd sand the roughest edges off their anger to reach a larger audience, Godsmack stick to the grit and intensity upon which they were founded.
"I call bands like Creed and Nickelback 'Pledge bands' because they're glossy and they shine," Erna says. "They're lemony fresh and I'm not a big fan of that stuff. I don't think it should be considered rock music. Where rock originated from and what people call rock music today are definitely two different things."
There's no lemon-fresh scent on Faceless. After opening with the sounds of machine-gun fire, circling choppers and battlefield explosions, the album kicks into high gear, where it remains for most of the next 47 minutes.
"Straight Out of Line" is dark and moody, building from a tense, taut guitar barrage to a shout-along chorus, then dropping for one of the band's trademark gurgling, mystical bridges. The title track combines surging wah-wah guitars, a staccato rhythm, and raspy melodic Hetfield-esque vocals.
"I don't intentionally try to rip off James Hetfield," Erna snarls when the similarity is pointed out. "If people say I sound like the guy from Metallica, it's not like I'm forcing my voice to sound that way. My vocal cords is what I was born with. God gave me these and that's the way I sing."
"Dead and Broken" chugs merrily along with Rombola using eerie minor-key flourishes to accent muted power chords. Like the first album, which ended with the broody, tribal "Voodoo," Faceless winds down with the percussive instrumental "The Awakening" and the acoustic "Serenity."
"We just write what's in our hearts and our souls, and I think because most of us have a heavy background being raised on bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, what's inside of us is a little bit more aggressive than people who were raised on classical or jazz," Erna says. "So when better hooks or melodies come, it's a blessing. A lot of bands that write really heavy stuff don't have the opportunity to shine because their music isn't radio-friendly most of the time, and ours is."
Which brings us to "I F---ing Hate You."
|
|
|
|
Photo: Universal
|
|
|
|
