In the past week Godsmack issued a seemingly random statement denying that they have ever been "an Alice In Chains clone band." Sully Erna said he "didn't get" the (widely held) "misconception that we were pegged as an Alice In Chain clones... I don't think we sound anything like them."
This statement would be more believable if their name and much of their first two albums did not owe a ridiculous amount to 'Dirt'. The interviews at the begining of their career where they admitted starting off as an Alice in Chains tribute band also cast doubt on Erna's claim.
I also recall that Godsmack were not so shy about their Alice in Chains influences when Layne Staley died and every media outlet was despirate to provide coverage. This meant that Godsmack recieved extra free promotion, along with any other band who jumped in front of a microphone at the time, for example Adema.
I dislike Adema intensely and their cover of 'Nutshell' does not demonstrate the "leaving behind of their nu-metal roots" no matter how many times their spokeman and record company claim it to be so.
Increasingly Godsmack appear to be trying to distance themselves from their early status as an tribute to Alice in Chains, Jerry Cantrell's second solo album may have acted as a cataylst for this. With lyrics such as "she's the shit y'all, choke on bones, flowing theme blown will, she's deep on your bone and it won't go away." most people would be denying any influences till I was blue in the face.
I wonder if Godsmack's statement is an attempt to smack interest in their forthcoming album, 'Faceless', due for US release on the 8th. Erna claims that this album will show who the band "melody-wise, has grown. There's more harmonies in it, but it's still got a good tough edge to it." While apparently the title is "kind of where the band sits right now. We've never been quite been a part of the MTV culture. So, to a certain degree this band is kind of faceless!" At least they acknowledge that being on MTV is important for them.
Certainly the video for the track 'Straight out of line' is very MTV friendly, visually it resembles a cross between Marilyn Manson and Mubvayne, with a bald grey guy drawing white spirals on the floor being frantically writing unseen words. Musically it comes accross as despirate to avoid being written off as another unoriginal semi-nu-metal album. A wise move given the decline is sales of this genre. On the album I like both 'Faceless' and 'Make me believe', while 'I stand alone' was overplayed as part of a soundtrack.
Whether Godsmack have the intention of heavy-rotation on MTV or otherwise it is nice to see that they have tried to do their own thing. For those who felt that the first album sounded like Alice in Chains and the second appeared at times to be like a remastered version of the first, the third attempt shows that practise makes pretty good going. Perhaps 'Releasing the demons' is trying a little hard to show how metal Godsmack really are but it sort of works. Anything has to be better than Linkin Park's latest offering.
