Life, Scar, Apologies

The third album–and second for venerable Christian-rock label Tooth & Nail–by Since October is the sound of four young men swinging for the fences. The Florida-based outfit started their career as a decent enough hard-rock band with Korn-style leanings (glassy guitar noise, intense and melodic vocals). But with fewer and fewer chances for a band to break through in the current musical marketplace, you can sense the strain on Since October to move units.

Hence, their latest work finds them putting modern arena rock airs. They have filled Life, Scars, Apologies with tons of plodding midtempo crowd pleasers, replete with easy to grasp choruses, sanguine lyrics about love, faith and personal redemption, and production that puts a candy-coated sheen on absolutely everything. Worse still are those moments when the band take things way down on overemotional ballads like "Mend All The Pieces" and "My Only" (a blatant stab at the soundtrack to a first dance by a bride and groom if there ever was one), not to mention a misguided cover version of Alice In Chains' "Don't Follow."

Tooth & Nail http://www.toothandnail.com