Review Summary: Audio Secrecy is a very admirable effort from a band trying to soldify their identity.
Corey Taylor is one of metal's most interesting figures today, being not only the front man of the metal band everyone loves to hate (Slipknot), but also the leading man of one of the most interesting radio rock bands around: Stone Sour. You can expect Stone Sour to produce something new whenever Corey Taylor and Jim Root aren't making an album or aren't touring with Slipknot. This may make Stone Sour seem like a simple side-project, but Stone Sour have proven in the past that they are more than capable of holding their own against the raging (but admittedly pretty weak) competition. Well then, the All Hope Is Gone tour has ended, so here's the new Stone Sour effort,
Audio Secrecy.
Right from the first note you will notice that Stone Sour are pretty comfortable with the direction they took with their music on their previous effort
Come What(ever) May. That direction being a more commercial, rock oriented sound, while not forgetting about their harder, more metal oriented past.This variety makes the album a two sided blade, because not everyone will enjoy the harder/softer side that they have shown on their previous records. Although Stone Sour can be classified as radio rock, make no mistake, they know very well how to stand up amongs their peers such as Nickelback.
Now we got that out of the way, let's talk about lyrics. Everyone that has ever heard a track written by Corey Taylor knows that he is not a very good writer. Hell, most of the lyrics he writes are painfully average. Luckily, he manages to cover up that weakness very well with his amazing vocal skills. His vocal range allows him to both sing heartbreaking ballads like 'Imperfect' or get off some of the screams he is so famous for like on 'Let's Be Honest'. The screams he pulls off on that track are actually better than the rest of the song, so I'm glad he still has some of his tricks left from the earlier days. 'Let's be Honest' also displays some of the profanity Corey is spouting around on this album for no particular reason. He gets away with it thanks to his vocals, but it can get annoying at times.
Of course Corey isn't the only Slipknot member that is also part of Stone Sour, there is also Jim Root, well known for his strong and expressive riffs. He's here all right, but he's taking a back seat on some of the songs, but when he does shine, he does it well. Like on 'The Bitter End' for example, where he shreds like there's no tomorrow. That said, the other musicians are doing a fine job, especially the drummer Roy Mayorga, who manages to fill up any holes, specifically when the other instruments are taking a back seat. I would like to hear more of the bassist Shawn Economaki though, because he seems absent at times. This is a shame because on tracks like 'Say You'll Haunt Me' he manages to steal the show. Of course, there is a wide musical variety present on this record, which surely kicks the replay value up a notch.
Audio Secrecy is definitely more than just filler in between two Slipknot albums, it's a very admirable effort from a band trying to soldify their identity. The two sides shown on this album prove that there is a lot of talent present here, and makes
Audio Secrecy all the more enjoyable in its variety. If you really want to classify this as a radio rock album, know this: this album kicks Nickelback's ass. Spread the word.
