Band:	Spineshank
Album:	Anger Denial Acceptance
Style:	Industrial metal, Nu metal
Release date:	June 18, 2012
A review by:	Baz Anderson

01. After The End
02. Nothing Left For Me
03. Anger Denial Acceptance
04. I Want You To Know
05. Murder Suicide
06. The Endless Disconnect
07. I Am Damage
08. Ploratio Morbus
09. Everything Everyone Everywhere Ends
10. The Reckoning
11. God Complex (Anger)
12. Motive Method Opportunity (Denial)
13. Exit Wounds (Acceptance)

Back in the golden age of nu metal a decade ago, Spineshank were on top of their game and on top of the genre with their industrial influenced nu metal style. The band's punishing second album The Height Of Callousness and catchier third album Self-Destructive Pattern set them miles ahead most of their competition. Splitting up the following year, we now find that nine years after that third album, Spineshank are back and with a new album Anger Denial Acceptance.

The metal world has changed significantly in the last decade with the rise of metalcore and the fall of nu metal. Spineshank, although back with their "classic" line-up, have changed somewhat too. Still a predominantly nu metal band, the Americans have however kept one eye on the current trends and adapted accordingly. A few harsher sections find themselves on Anger Denial Acceptance and the clean vocal sections on this album seem more prominent than before too; either there is simply more, or they just sound that bit more annoying a decade on.

The album is slightly stronger in the second half after the songs written to be commercial hits have passed, but Anger Denial Acceptance as an album is disappointingly weak. There are little to no industrial elements, there are no particular standout songs and nothing especially memorable either. Spineshank are missing that cutting edge they brandished so sharply nine years ago.

Old fans of this band curiously listening to Anger Denial Acceptance in the hopes of another Height Of Callousness or Self-Destructive Pattern will be sourly disappointed, and any young kids picking this album up will soon drop it in favour of their trend-setting, new bands. As great as Spineshank were for those few years a decade ago, this album sounds more like a group of guys who are far from their younger-selves trying and failing to become relevant again.

The more aggressive sections of Anger Denial Acceptance save it from the bin, the album does have a few nice moments, but if anything good comes out of this album - it is the urge to listen to those old albums once more. Those two albums are two of the absolute greatest from the nu metal era, so let's just listen to them and remember Spineshank for the great band they were, not this.

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Nu metal
U.S.A.
Length: 44:46
Century Media