Band:	Drowning Pool
Album:	Sinner
Style:	Alternative metal
Release date:	June 2001

01. Sinner
02. Bodies
03. Tear Away
04. All Over Me
05. Reminded
06. Pity
07. Mute
08. I Am
09. Follow
10. Told You So
11. Sermon

Chances are you remember Drowning Pool for one of two things, being the band that produced "Bodies" and for featuring Ryan McCombs from SOiL at one stage in their career. Deciding to delve deeper and learn more about the band, I gave Sinner a go and now I know why these two facts are the sole reminders left, because there certainly isn't much else of merit on this album.

Contrary to what you would think from hearing "Bodies", Drowning Pool are more the post-grunge style of nu metal than the jock jam style. In and of itself it is not a bad thing but do they pull it off poorly; as someone who likes nu metal to an extent, Sinner has to rank among some of the worst I've heard in the genre.

Much of the album is cookie cutter tracks that are so similar to each other that it's only when the chorus plays that you are able to differentiate between them; even then, that's only because the shouted lyrics of every chorus are different. Whereas some bands succeed at producing similar tracks, it is because the songs are catchy and good; Drowning Pool do not pull this off.

The constant repetition of the loud quiet motif mixed in with bland bar chords means the album limps between songs at snails' pace. Once "Bodies" finishes the album drops into a low gear and stays there; from the boring "Tear Away" to the false dawn that is "Sermon", the album settles into a comfort zone that goes nowhere. "Sermon" picks up your ears with a nice intro riff that is quickly dropped before reproducing the same bland verse riffing that is copy and pasted in every track. Whereas most nu metal bands could rely on angsty energy or melancholy melody to carry the album to an average finish, Sinner doesn't even have that to fall back on.

Dave Williams (R.I.P.) is the only member who really gets to show any personality in the music; he has a good voice and it is a shame he didn't have better material to work with. While the lyrics are clearly personal and come from a place of emotion, they are poorly written and typify the stereotypical nu metal sound at the time. The rest of the band aren't bad, but they just play such similar and basic music (even for nu metal) that it feels like the audio equivalent of old cartoons when the same background would repeat as the characters run through them.

With all that said, there are two tracks on here that aren't bad, "Sinner" isn't anything amazing but it doesn't bore me like the rest of the album; given the dearth of quality that should at least count in the band's defense. Then there is "Bodies": sure, some label it stupid and insipid but I challenge you to put it on in front of a metal crowd and see if you don't get a response. As bad as Sinner is, I can't deny it has one hell of classic on it; it's just a shame the rest of the album isn't of the same level of quality.

I didn't go into this album looking to hate it, but I can't come out the other end as anything other than bored. As the chorus in "Mute" says "there is nothing left here to talk about"