Nonpoint - The Poison Red

------------------------Introduction
-----------Though the nu-metal sound is quite dated, Nonpoint performs admirably throughout
their new record.
Sound - 7/10
-----------Nu-metal is a style that has seen somewhat of a resurgence from a few modern ban
ds like Issues and Emmure, and there are times where the modern metalcore scene
seems to be on the verge to reintroducing the style, but what of the bands that
have been around doing it for years? Well, aside from the few obvious bands (Kor
n, Bizkit, Evanescence) that are still around, Florida nu-metal band Nonpoint, h
ave actually managed to keep a career going fairly continuously since the 1990s,
despite mostly staying under the radar of the mainstream.
Throughout their career, Nonpoint have always felt slightly more sophisticated o
n a musical level than many of their alt-metal and nu-metal peers, often featuri
ng more melodic vocal hooks, deeper vocal harmonies, more intricate guitar licks
(including guitar solos, which have always been kind of an omission from nu-met
al), and a little bit more variety in tempo and feel. "The Poison Red" continues
this trend, with original vocalist Elias Soriano crooning his way through many
of the songs, often relying on a very raspy-but-melodic voice. Guitarists Rashee
d Thomas and B.C. Kochmit (recent additions from 2011 and 2014, respectively), p
lay a plethora of tight riffs and lead parts, with B.C. playing many solos, whic
h for a nu-metal record, are actually quite excellent. Nearly every song has a s
olo on it, an oddity for the genre. There is some variety when it comes to the i
ndividual songs on the record, with tracks like "Generation Idiot" feeling very
riff-oriented and heavy, and tracks like "Be Enough" having a much more groove-o
riented sound that is almost slightly progressive. Drummer Robb Rivera (one of t
wo original members, along with Elias) and bassist Adam Woloszyn groove quite we
ll throughout the album, as well.
On the other hand, while the performances are good, and the songs have a bit of
variety to them, I can't help but feel that this album sounds *incredibly* dated
. And not in an endearing way like many classic rock artists, or in a nostalgic
manner that suggest an homage like many current artists aping blues and psychede
lic rock. It just sounds like a bit of a dinosaur reminding us of decades long p
ast (has it really been almost 20 years since this band's debut!?) and it does f
eel like a band like this has done little in the way of progression in their fai
rly lengthy career. As such, some of the songs get kind of plodding and mired do
wn in nu-metal cliches, which isn't really a bad thing if your taste in music ha
sn't evolved since the mid-90s, but it did kind of feel like I had flipped to a
couple of really bad videos on Much Music while listening to this record.
As well, the "outro" sort of thing at the end of album closer "My Last Dying Bre
ath" was... ill-advised. I realize these kind of "humourous" spoken word outros
are kind of a tradition on nu-metal albums but this was the most cringe-worthy t
hing I've listened to in a very long time, and it really just felt like it was t
acked on pointlessly and absolutely came close to completely ruining the album f
or me.
The production is not bad, not great either, but I've heard worse production on
albums than this. The bass does tend to blend in with the drums a bit too much f
or my tastes, but otherwise there isn't really anything wrong with the productio

n.
Lyrics - 6/10
------------Just like with the music, nu-metal lyrics are often a breeding ground for tired
cliches, and despite Nonpoint's more sophisticated approach to the genre, they a
re no exception to the rule. Sensory overload and personal disconnection from th
e internet has been a running protest in almost every mainstream metal band's so
ngs for the past several years now, and first single and album opener "Generatio
n Idiot" exemplifies this trope to a T: "There isn't a better addiction than let
ting it out/Without a filter attached to the mouth/I got 99,000 problems with th
eir very own problems/Once upon a time people talked to people/people didn't tex
t, what's coming next?" Many of the rest of the songs focus on your absolutely p
redictable metal lyric content: the devaluation of art and music, politics, pers
onal demons (including bad relationships, addictions, that sort of thing), and j
ust nothing that we haven't heard in mainstream metal lyrics a thousand times be
fore. In this day and age where most genres of music have lyrical themes this ho
mogenized, it takes a lot to genuinely impress me with lyrics, and this record,
while admirable, doesn't go out of its way to do so. And then when you get to ly
rics like "Fuck a radio chorus/I wanna see blood for once without the judgements
/Fuck a radio chorus/I wanna say what I want without you judging me", from the s
ong "Radio Chorus", in one of the album's most hooky earworms of a chorus, you a
lmost can't help but just not take this band seriously. And it would have been g
reat if the song was dripping with sarcasm much like Korn's quite similar "Y'all
Want A Single?", but the fact that this band actually seems to take itself quit
e seriously for the most part makes a lyrical cliche like this quite confusing.
However, Elias' skill as a vocalist does make up a bit for some lackluster lyric
al cliches, as his voice is one of the most appealing aspects of this band's sou
nd. His softer voice croons along quite ably through the lighter parts of the re
cord, and when he puts more power into it, his raspier "gruff" singing voice is
actually quite good. Absolutely no complaints about the singing on this record,
and there are lots of great vocal parts, harmonies, and background hooks that'll
keep you interested as a listener.
Overall Impression - 7/10
------------------------Despite such an old, tired musical sound full of desparate cliches, Nonpoint doe
s make a pretty convincing case for nu-metal having some positive, redeeming tra
its. The musicianship of this band is actually quite good, putting them above a
lot of sort of second-rate bubbling-under nu-metal acts from their day. And the
fact that, unlike a lot of those nu-metal bands that hadn't been graced with hug
e mainstream successes, Nonpoint has actually maintained a pretty solid career t
rack without breaking up or going on a huge hiatus, and have been releasing fair
ly consistent records throughout, makes it so that these guys have a very solid
sound that's been finely honed from years of keeping it together. If you wax nos
talgic for the days when nu-metal was still quite new and raw and heavy, this al
bum will definitely appeal to you. Otherwise, it's good for a listen or two, but
is probably not an album I'll be seeing heavily in my rotation. The opening tra
ck "Generation Idiot" is probably the best song on the album, just because it ha
s a really interesting lead guitar part and is a good, powerful opening track, b
ut to be honest, it isn't really a big standout track, and I don't think this al
bum really has one. For all the variety on the record, the whole nu-metal thing
does feel so homogenized that it can be pretty hard to pick out something extrem
ely good from a small batch of songs. And one thing that I think would have dram
atically improved this album's rating would be to remove that awful closing "hid

den track" of sorts. It's just a good thing that it's at the very end of the alb
um, so if you still buy this on CD and pop it in your Discman (and of course you
still own a Discman, you Korn-loving 90s kid, you!), you can at least take comf
ort in the fact that once the final song actually ends, you can just pop the dis
c out and never have to listen to that strange, awful turd that closes the recor
d.
All in all, though, this record, cliches and all, isn't all that bad. You're pro
bably not going to lose yourself in it unless you're already a huge Nonpoint fan
, but the songs are good for a listen and there's a lot of good riffs and solos
to like on the album. The singing is probably the least offensive style in the g
enre, hands-down. And when this band gets into a good groove, it really is somet
hing special. Definitely worth checking out.