TRUSTcompany

Dreaming In Black & White

Written by: PP on 12/04/2011 06:28:26

TRUSTcompany. Now that's one name from the rotting corpse that is nu-metal I didn't expect to see ever again after their miserably awful sophomore album "True Parallels", which lead into a hiatus and a split with major label Geffen. After all, this is a band whose success during the nu-metal explosion relied solely on the power single "Downfall" of their debut album which propelled it to beyond 500,000 copies sold and a gold certification, a criminally high amount of records when considering the amount of filler included on both records...which is why it's all the more surprising to see the band return six years later, let alone with an album that is undeniably their best effort yet, "Dreaming In Black And White".

Now, we've seen a bunch of bands from the nu-metal era return in the last couple of years. All have had a lengthy hiatus with no new material surfacing due to the implosion of their chosen genre and their subsequent retreat to re-think their commercial strategy. All of them have one trait in common in their eventual returns: a revamped, renewed sound that carries only slight hints of their nu-metal past as the bands have adapted to change, some better than others. This is also the case for TRUSTcompany, whose transformation is arguably one of the most significant from the generic nu-metal bunch. The crunchy guitars and weak, radio-friendly screams have been removed almost completely from the picture, replaced by a softer and smoother alternative rock sound overall that suits the band far better.

What's more interesting though is how much drive and energy they've garnered into their new sound. Many tracks have a high-tempo and a sense of urgency the like of which the whole nu-metal movement wasn't even capable of dreaming about back then, complemented by monster catchy verse/chorus combos especially during the opening three tracks. Sure, there are a couple of tracks that still pay tribute to the days of radio-friendly nu-metal, such as the "Meteora"-era Linkin Park clone "Pulling You Down", or the pseudo-heavy and crunchy "Reverse & Remember", but mostly TRUSTcompany spend their time with modern hard rock and smokey alt rock pieces. This is important, because it helps the band avoid the dated and (today) much hated sound of their earlier albums, even if it does sometimes result into cliché power-ballads like "Alone Again".

So what does all of this mean in terms of the big picture? Well, "Dreaming In Black And White" probably won't make it to many best-of lists this year. But it's far from the steaming pile of turd it could have been as indicated by their previous album from six years ago. There are always going to be people who will never buy into the simplistic, mainstream alternative rock sound of ex-nu metal bands, but facts are facts: songs like "Almost There" and "Dreaming In Black & White" are excellent and memorable mainstream hard rock pieces that deserve at least some credit.

7

Download: Close Your Eyes (Til It's Over), Heart In My Hands, Almost There
For the fans of: Linkin Park, Saliva, Adema, Trapt, Earshot
Listen: Myspace

Release date 08.03.2011
eOne Music

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