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By GREG MAKI
If you’re looking for originality, you’ll want to steer clear of 40 Cycle Hum. Their debut album, Secret Skin, comes straight out of the late-’90s/early-2000s hard rock/metal playbook. You’ll hear down-tuned guitars, angst-filled growling vocals and the obligatory cover of a 1980s pop song. The band actually does what it does rather well, so I suppose it’s a question of whether we need another band like this now.
Frontman Brandon Mitchell spends most of the disc alternating between a Nickelback-like rasp and a scream that brings Nothingface vocalist Matt Holt to mind. Mitchell is at his best employing a smoother tone reminiscent of John Bush of Anthrax and Armored Saint fame. He gives his strongest performance on “Just Leave It,” which has a slamming guitar riff that recalls Pantera’s “Five Minutes Alone.” If your influences are going to be so obvious, you might as well take from the best. The song showcases guitarist Mark Zavon as a capable lead player. In fact, the guitar solos sprinkled throughout the album liven up the entire recording.
The album, which the band self-produced, benefits greatly from its raw sound. Too many bands in this genre gloss their songs up in the studio and emerge lacking anything resembling an edge. 40 Cycle Hum keeps it rough and the songs sound like they would translate well to the stage. I could do without the first single, a cover of Real Life’s “Send Me An Angel,” but the band has enough going for it that Secret Skin is worth a listen.
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