Nonpoint
Statement
MCA
Semi-facetiously billed by one bold critic as “Promising New Band (MCA) Have No Intention of Publicizing” (thanks, Mark “Infernal Combustion”” Tinta!), Nonpoint prove this assertion out on their debut Statement, namely because they effectively evade the excesses of their mainstream metal brethren, and that’s certainly a good thing. Although he may not possess the effortlessly fluid flow of Zack de la Rocha, Candiria’s Carley Coma, or even The Crazy Townies’ frontman, Elias Soriano nonetheless renders his occasional raps credible and inviting, and above all, not making an embarrassing, hand-wringing mess of it all, which is the main gripe leveled at the rap/rock crossover conundrum by the more astute of us critics. Likewise, Nonpoint’s pull-no-punches crunch sidesteps the erroneously Pro Tooled overdrive of, say, Linkin Park or Disturbed, but then again, they could benefit their radio rotation some had they punched up the assuredly slick onslaught some. And, hey, these young dudes can write some great tunes when they want to, especially the Deftoned “DoubleStakked” and A Perfectly Circled “Years.” Sure, it may be an inadvertent slight to say that Statement excels not for what it necessarily does but, rather, for what it doesn’t, but such are these nu-metalled times •- one step closer, maybe.
MCA, 2220 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404; http://www.nonpoint.com
