Review Summary: A heavy, fun, and melodic debut album from a band that had tons of potential. It makes you wonder how things would be if Dave Williams was still here today.
Many years ago, one I was still in my early teens, I saw the Dragon Ball Z movie Coolers Revenge. It had some catchy songs in it that I still remember singing along to, and most of the songs were from nu-metal bands. Years later, I was bored and decided to look up those songs that I enjoyed so much, finding out that the band that created those catchy songs I liked was called Drowning Pool. It was then that I decided to check out their debut album that had those songs on it, called "Sinner".
Even though this band was one of the nu-metal bands on the rise and the genre is somewhat hated today, it doesnt change the fact that this is an amazing album. One thing you will notice even after one listen is that these songs are incredibly catchy and fun to listen to. Things get off to a great start with the title track, which gives you a great example of what this band is all about. The song features the great singing by vocalist Dave Williams in the verses and an awesome chorus that gets you singing along. The song is short and could have been longer with a real solo but its still great. From here you get a general idea of what you are in for. Another thing that shuld be noted is that this album contains no "slow" songs and keeps up its intensity from the start to the album closer, "Sermon", which is a defining statement and an anti-religion song of sorts ending the album on a great note.
Drowning Pool might not play complicated music but it's still great to listen to. To many, Dave Williams made this band what it was. He has a very distinct vocal style and does a great jo at switching from screaming to clean singing. Guitarist C.J. Pierce has his own unique style of playing that you here on every song on the album. He uses a distinct combination of effects pedals and huge amounts of distortion to create his own signature sound that sounds really good on songs like "Sinner", "Tear Away", and "Reminded". The intro to songs like "Follow", "Pity", and "All Over Me" show his signature style and how he twists it in many ways to create an effective sound and there are also some guitar solos here and there like on "Tear Away" and "Told You So". Bassist Stevie Benton can't be heard on a lot of the songs on the album, but on songs like the title track and "Tear Away" he can be heard in the background providing a heavy backup to Pierce. Drummer Mike Luce also doesnt have a big part. He puts out some heavy beats but there is nothing technical about his drumming....showing that what really makes up the bands sound on this album is Pierce's guitar riffs and Williams' vocals.
Drowning Pool have put an amazing amount of effort into their debut album. It features a sound that they would never have again after Dave's passing in 2002. It's a horrible shame, because this is an album that shows that this band had so much potential to become on eof the great metal bands of their time. Their later albums are horrible attempts to attain the glory they could have had with Dave in the band, but they are ok nonetheless. This is a one-of-a-kind album, and since nothing this band ever does will sound like this again, it is definetly worth at least one listen if you havent heard it already.
