3 out of 5

Produced by: D. Sardy

Label: Interscope

Depending on your music proclivities, that these guys have a bit of Korn in their wild guitar squeals, and a bit of Staind in vocalist Jai Diablo’s croaked delivery, and like, a single music video with Tera Patrick in it…  Well, I’d forgive you for tossing it in a ‘pass’ pile without giving it much of a listen.  I’d likely have done the same m’self, except for producer Dave Sardy being at the knobs.  And there’s no doubt: he brings his magic here, deepening the intensity of the low-end such that this stuff hits with a lot more groove than I imagine was actually being delivered.  But there’s still a surprising amount of solidity backing up ‘Music for the End of the World:’ Diablo’s lyrics, for one, are… actually pretty good!  Channeling paranoia over the usual anger espoused on records of this nature, he finds a few interesting ways to discuss the titular end of the world, and the hopelessness his song persona faces as a result.  The swearing is actually boiled down to an effective minimum, the parental advisory sticker being rather misleading, and Diablo’s performance throughout is fist-pumpingly enthused.

The guitar riffage also offers up a fair amount of unique hooks – the album kicks off with a catchy track, and gives us some of that every other song or so – and when it falls back on some usual stop / start nu-metal stuff, Sardy’s production is there to add an extra kick.

There’s not quite enough there to result in an ultimately defining song or album, but there is much more than you’d expect from those first glances / listens, and, in a way, more promise than most of the more notable similar acts from this early 00s era.  Alas, promised unfulfilled, as this was Dragpipe’s only disc.