Band:	Drowning Pool
Album:	Resilience
Style:	Alternative metal
Release date:	April 2013

01. Anytime Anyplace
02. Die For Nothing
03. One Finger And A Fist
04. Digging These Holes
05. Saturday Night
06. Low Crawl
07. Life Of Misery
08. Broken Again
09. Understand
10. Bleed With You
11. Skip To The End
12. In Memory Of...
13. Blindfold
14. Apathetic [bonus]
15. One Way Prophecy [bonus]

Drowning Pool exploded in 2001 after the release of their debut album Sinner which featured the, still as of today most recognizable song of the band, "Bodies".

Who doesn't remember hits such as "Soldier", "37 Stiches", and "Feel Like I Do" among others? Yes, those songs are from the last two albums when Ryan McCombs (SOiL) was still handling the vocal duties and therefore I was wondering if the new guy could continue the band's success.

Resilience, their fifth studio album is about to hit the streets and according to Merriam-Webster, the definition of re?sil?ience is: an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. Oh boy and they did just that. With Jasen Moreno being the band's fourth vocalist and tagged to fill the void after McCombs's departure, he stepped up to the plate and did not strike out.

There are tons of sing-along anthems such as "One Finger And A Fist" and "Understand" but the band also dedicated a very fitting ballad "In Memory Of?", to their original vocalist Dave Williams who passed away in 2002.

With the singles Drowning Pool already released from Resilience I am pretty sure they climb the charts in no time, but the crème de la crème comes with the later songs. "Life Of Misery" has that special something which makes you head-bang from start to finish and for me it's one of the stronger tracks on the album.

Did their sound change with this release? Maybe; overall it has a less "balls-to-the-walls" vibe than their prior ones with more emphasis on big arena sounding and screaming along songs. Not saying that the last albums lacked this appeal but it seems to me they were just a tad heavier.

But on this note, I truly believe that Drowning Pool found in Jasen Moreno a worthy replacement. He has some serious pipes and proves this throughout the album; most notably on "Low Crawl". I think his voice is very similar to their original screamer Dave Williams, but me personally, I enjoyed McCombs with his groovy, low and sludgy singing style.

As expected C.J. Pierce is no slouch when it comes to great riffing and memorable solos but to my surprise those solos are not as abundant this time around. But the fact that Benton's bass is heavily in the mix makes up for this in the long run. I am also venturing to say that Mike Luce did some of his best drumming on this album. He proves that he doesn't just know how to handle the double bass technique but also how to add "melody" to any of the songs.

I would say Resilience will appeal to the fans who think Sinner is the best the band had ever done, as well as to those who liked the McCombs era albums. For me it's a toss-up since some songs remind me of either period in Drowning Pool's discography.

Pick it up, give it a spin or two and judge for yourself. Either way, the songs I like the most on this newest release are by far "Life Of Misery", "Bleed With You" and as a close third "Understand".