New Found Power [Enhanced] [Explicit Lyrics]

While the writer of those oh so angry, oh so powerful and oh so aggressive lyrics, is writing even heavier things and even more angrier things in his own hardcore plan, Superjoint Ritual, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell are writing songs of similar vein to their previous breakthrough, but actually become lighter in places and even more melodic. And while new vocalist Pat Lachman, previously only a guitarist in Rob Halford's band Halford, does put on a pretty good performance as the aggressed frontman, he's no Phil Anselmo both vocally and lyrically. And while it's not necessarily a bad thing that the two Pantera brothers are now free from what has to be said, the dominating force in Pantera, they do lack a lot of the ideas and the power that Anselmo had in that shiny, brutal head of his, that made Pantera, not the greatest thrash metal band, but the best thing to ever happen to it.

There are aspects of pure, classy thrash on 'New Found Power' though, including the rollicking, 'Breathing New Life', adding electronics that reoccur throughout the album to the mix making Damageplan a less simplistic band, going for atmosphere more than pure balls-out aggression and perhaps a more hardcore styling. That's not to say there isn't balls-out aggression, but it's also not to say that the atmosphere is always at its most effecting. While 'Breathing New Life' has a superb build up to the main chorus section, which relives many Pantera moments, only with less power and less simplicity, it can also be said that it's a fairly bog standard piece of power-thrash. It's also followed by the title-track which is something of a let down as a musical triumph, but is fine as a piece of aggressive sound.

And that's as far as the album goes: It's fine as an aggressive piece of metal work, but not so much as an effecting album that makes your fist pump and your heart-beat, like Pantera's own, 'Vulgar Display of Power' and 'The Great Southern Trendkill' did. It's also painfully ironic that Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell's Damageplan, have become one of the pretty much bog-standard and even at times generic heavy metal bands that Pantera have spawned. And that probably is because they don't have Phil Anselmo. While a Pantera, or indeed, Damageplan riff isn't really all that complicated, it was Anselmo's vocal that made it what it was. But despite all this, Damageplan aren't without their charm. 'Pride' has a great atmospheric building and a fine chunk of hard rock, as does 'Crawl' and 'Blink Of An Eye' is a similar thing, only a little subtler. And speaking of subtlety, what might surprise you after so long of sheer ear bludgeoning as only Vinne Paul and Dimebag Darrell, can, they go and shock everyone with a ballad right at the end: 'Soul Bleed' is indeed what Pantera fans buying this album might come to expect if they were looking at it from a 'This Love' and 'Cemetery Gates' point of view. At over 5 minutes long, surprisingly it doesn't become tedious, but actually gains momentum, and has a surprisingly intelligent SOFT solo from Dimebag right in the middle of it all. The inclusion of what appears to be strings, may also surprise, as much as the guitars almost try to hide them, but it does say one thing about Damageplan: They aren't Pantera and, despite the fact that they won't escape the comparisons, they don't want to be.

And while there are pointless pieces of power such as the Corey Taylor guested, 'F*ck You', and a questionable piece of post-grunge in 'Save Me', 'New Found Power' is not a bad thrash-along if that's what you're after. As with Machine Head's latest, and Metallica's questionable 'St. Anger', Damageplan have created something for medicinal treatment for the ever increasing angry world, and is fine as a complete work rather than have very good individual moments, and is a storming presence but is not for people who are searching for something intelligent, that matches current trends and that has much substance to it. To be honest, if you were buying this as a Pantera fan, you wouldn't be looking for that anyway, but if you're looking as a Pantera fan, looking for a Pantera album, you'll be somewhat disappointed as only a few of the tracks will match your expectations. If you're just entering the world of thrash, this isn't a bad place to start, since you'll find when you research further that there's far superior thrash metal out there.

3 Stars.

Hopefully i will love this one day. But that day wont be anytime soon. Buy it but dont expect it to change your life. Try Down or even Super Joint Ritual instead.