Review Summary: The album remains their strongest work, far outreaching their past successes and mostly cleaning up their occasional missteps.
Nonpoint has been kicking around for quite some time now. The band was originally founded in 1997 by drummer Robb Rivera and vocalist Elias Soriano, part of a swelling florida metal scene. Though their first major label release,
Statement (2000), sold over a quarter million copies, Nonpoint had an endless uphill battle ahead of them as the fall of nu-metal led to the demise of many of the band's peers.
Development and
Recoil, released in 2002 and 2004, respectively, kept the band afloat and proved resiliency with relentless touring and the strength of popular tracks like "The Truth" and Phil Collins cover "In The Air Tonight". It was in 2005 that the band released their most powerful release, though, for their third label in as many albums (a contributing factor to their lack of forward momentum, unfortunately).
To the Pain finds the band firing on all cylinders and sets off with a bang in lead single "Bullet With a Name", complete with groovy riffs and an earworm vocal hook. Elias gives the performance of his career throughout the album, with "The Wreckoning" a clear highlight from the get-go. In fact, his voice has been noticeably different since the touring cycle for this album - he's never quite recovered. Instrumentally, the band had typically operated at the technical level of peers like Sevendust and Taproot, though guitarist Andrew Goldman had hinted at a higher level of comfort in past efforts like "Mint" and "Double Stakked". With a silky, fluid technique incorparting a healthy dose of harmonics and major chords with post-Metallica thrash, his work stands out from the typical nu-metal formula.
To the Pain features some of his heaviest ("There's Gonna be a War"), catchiest ("Alive and Kicking" / "Skin") and most technically impressive ("The Longest Beginning" / "The Shortest Ending") work to date. "The Shortest Ending" features mesmerizing verses, serving as the perfect ending to an increasingly harrowing mood developed in the second half of the album.
Nonpoint has managed to survive by seperating themselves from the pack, and
To the Pain continued that trend. Their third track incorporating Spanish lyrics (the crushing "Buscandome") feels quite unique, comparitavely, and Elias' delicate cleans carry a beautiful interlude in the outstanding title track. The band's first instrumental is included here, too ("Ren-dishen"), serving as a brilliant bridge between the raucus first half of the album and the more vulnerable second half.
The effort isn't flawless, however, and enters odd territory with "Code Red", a song which can be described best as
weird. Featuring screwy guitar work and disjointed riffs, the song ends up completely skippable, with "Wrong Before" doing little to reclaim the strength of the initial ten tracks. Sonically the album is quite heavy (it was produced by guitarist Andrew Goldman), though it can be overbearing in some of the more chaotic moments.
It is easy enough to assign a band from the late 90's and early 2000's the label of "nu-metal", especially when they operate around standard confines, and this has plagued Nonpoint since their inception. While
Statement probably does fall into that genre, subsequent albums would reinforce their presence in the hard rock scene; not quite heavy enough for metal fans to pay attention, yet far too fast and hard for the Godsmack and Shinedown fans of the world. While Sevendust's consistency has earned them respect amongst even fervent nu-metal detractors, Nonpoint's missteps (
Development,
Vengeance and
Mircale mostly) have had obvious effects on the band's clout and draw. No doubt, if
To the Pain was released after
Statement, when the band was most poised to join the upper ranks of Disturbed and Godsmack, they'd have done just that. The album remains their strongest work, far outreaching their past successes and mostly cleaning up their occasional missteps. Longtime fans remember this peak fondly, and will always throw down when "Bullet" invariably closes a Nonpoint show even today.
Standout tracks:
"Skin"
"There's Gonna Be a War"
"To the Pain"
"The Longest Beginning" / "The Shortest Ending"
