Review Summary: Far too consistent, and not in a good way.
It’s almost laughable how many vocalists have joined and left Drowning Pool since the tragic death of the group’s first frontman Dave Williams over a decade ago. Five albums into their career, and the lineup has changed for the fourth time; parting ways with Ryan McCombs, the only singer to ever record more than one album with the band. At this point, Drowning Pool could almost be referred to as a sort of revolving door project, but despite different vocalists constantly checking in and checking out, this really has never made much of a difference to Drowning Pool’s music, as their sound has amazingly remained thoroughly invariable with each new album. It may just be that Drowning Pool knows what sound they aim to have for the rest of the band’s existence, and aren’t intending to budge anytime soon.
Resilience is more of the same Pantera-aping groove metal straight from the water tap. The only thing that’s really striking about it is that new lead vocalist Jasen Moreno has a significantly higher-pitched croon than the very deep and gruff tone the band’s last four singers all shared. With Moreno’s yelps, Drowning Pool’s music is now comparable to that of a much heavier Taproot than they are Godsmack or Soulfly. However, these flickers of light attempts at post-hardcore in the vocal department are swiftly bashed out by knuckle-dragging riffs with meaty chugs, as
Resilience consists of the usual nonstop adrenaline-charged heavy metal with a searing southern branding, and flashes of nu metal’s remnants abound in the formula. But as always, this is more pissed off than it is angst-ridden, and not all is serious and grim, as songs about having a good time Texas style such as “Saturday Night” strikes up a resemblance to the groove heavy jams of HellYeah.
It would be a disappointment that the addition of Moreno to the group didn't result in the incorporation of many prevalent new influences in the band's sound, but it's just too damn unsurprising that's the case at this point. Drowning Pool is still making contrived and flat metal that makes a lot of noise and tries to be as loud and unhinged as it can, but ends up sounding like a big slobbering dog barking while limited by a leash. With bands like Five Finger Death Punch outdoing them at their own groove metal game, Drowning Pool just aren't as effectively agressive and hostile as they could be if they had just siezed upon one of the countless opportunities for a redesign that they've been given.
