Egypt Central

White Rabbit

Written by: PP on 26/11/2011 19:52:44

One of our readers recently requested that we'd take a look at "White Rabbit", the sophomore album by Egypt Central, who are well on their way of becoming the next big thing in radio rock across the pond. They specialize in that overtly safe and formulaic brand of archetypical mainstream radio rock that once used to be called nu-metal, but today has, err, devolved back into an unclassifiable mixture between post-grunge, hard rock, and alternative metal. In short, the sort of music people listen to when they are only just discovering the world of rock music, stuff that used to be Linkin Park, Sum 41, koRn, etc a decade ago. It's the metaphorical top-of-the-iceberg scenario, except Egypt Central belong to the stage where their fans simply don't realize that beneath the visible part exists an enormous one, which in our metaphor consists of bands too complex for the average joe, hence they never see radio success in similar vein.

But that's okay. It simply means that what the music world really has to offer simply hasn't reached their consciousness yet. Stepping stone bands like Egypt Central are needed as well, but alas they will never be a critic's favorite simply because of how formulaic their music is. "White Rabbit" sends its regards to "Meteora"-era Linkin Park, mid-era Staind (the poppy stuff post-"It's Been A While"), and Seether (all-around). It's no surprise to find a former member of Saliva within their ranks as well. The songs are typically infested with larger-than-life hard rock / nu-metal riffs, and ginormous choruses that are as simple as they are catchy, clearly designed with arena-sized stages in mind. "Down In Flames" is perhaps the best example, featuring classic Linkin Park style coarse clean vocals, crunchy alt metal riffs that are just heavy enough to separate the band from pop rock bands (but not an inch more), and a lead single type of chorus that you'll hear on a Nickelback album.

Elsewhere, "Goodnight" rips off the classic HIM sound with a darkened 'love metal' vibe, "Enemy Inside (Part Two)" can easily be mistaken to be a Staind song from "The Illusion Of Progress" or "Chapter V", and to top things off they even have a mega-annoying track in the form of "Kick Ass", which I equate to be on the same level of vomit as "She Fucking Hates Me" by Puddle Of Mudd.

You get my point, surely. Egypt Central's "White Rabbit" is the sort of album that'll sell a lot of copies solely because of songs like "Change" and the others mentioned in this review. It's also the kind of album that falls flat on its face when you dig around the obvious single material, containing plenty of filler material whose only purpose is to fill enough space to make this a full length instead of an EP. But it is what it is, and for mainstream nu-metal / alternative rock, "White Rabbit" isn't quite as forgettable as many other recent releases in the genre (Adema or Saliva anyone?), so some credit must be awarded where credit is due.

Download: Goodnight, Change, Down In Flames
For the fans of: Linkin Park, Staind, Seether
Listen: Myspace

Release date 31.05.2011
Fat Lady Music / ILG Records

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