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Project 86

...And the Rest Will Follow (2005)
Tooth & Nail Records

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Contributed by: Anchors
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on February 14th 2006

Tooth & Nail isn’t a label renowned for heavy music. Project 86 will make it plenty apparent why that’s the case. Yeah, it’s heavy, but more in the nü-metal sense than in the metal or hardcore sense, and in 2006, where nü-metal is essentially dead, to see somebody carrying that sound on is a problem.

It’s the singer that brings the sounds of 1997 to life more than anyone else, as both this sung and screamed vocals sound like they’d fit a band who tours with Godsmack and Disturbed. The vocals stay pretty strong throughout the album's duration, but they sound so metallic and produced that it’s not even truly possible to enjoy them. If the singer has a decent voice, which appears to be the case, why not let him record without any sort of effects? But that’s not the route that was taken, and the result is a much more watered down sounding record than what could have been.

The band's song dynamics are another area in which they are in sore need of help. It’s rare that the verse-chorus-verse formula is strayed away from, even in a slight manner, and it only further hurts the band, because they seem to have a lot of trouble writing good hooks. The only thing really left in the open in each song is how the vocals will sound. The contrast between the heavier vocals and regular singing is distinctive enough, albeit still boring, but it does show that they’re at least attempting to keep each song on the album from having one uniform sound.

“My Will Be a Dead Man” starts out with some aggressive vocals and heavily distorted guitars, but there’s long pauses in between riffs during the verses, and this tactic fails because of the lack of the bands wanting to keep the vocals varied during that section. All of this leads up to the big angsty chorus, in which the same line of "I will, I will, be the dead man" is repeated until it’s drilled so firmly into you’re head that you can no longer think straight. “Cavity King” is where the band could have done something a little better, as the riffs are pretty versatile, and the song structure is free of holes, but during the aggressive screamed vocals, the underlying singing really kills the feeling of aggression. Just another one of the many instances where decent ideas are shot to all hell by incredibly poor execution.

Project 86 are playing a style of music that should be as dead as disco, but is unfortunately living on. Sorry to break it to you guys, but you don’t see people in Godsmack shirts anymore for a reason.

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suspendedintime (December 4, 2006)

i think that if you're going to be a critic on this album, you should get the lyrics correctly. "i will, i will be the dead man," is not what Andrew Schwab [lead singer] is trying to say. the correct lyrics are "my will, my will, be a dead man"

Anonymous (July 23, 2006)

This band aint bad.

Anonymous (March 14, 2006)

jesus rock! who needs it. when will tooth and nail fail?jihad,jihad!

fuck you to

Anonymous (March 14, 2006)

it is'n't inportant of it's th time fore this music :@
the only inportant thing is how good it is. and btw i don't think you can compare Godsmake with Project-86. so th only thing i'd like to say fuck you ,,i,
Project-86 rules, and the rest will follow them!

and you don't see any godsmack shirts anymore becous ther songs sucs when you have heard them 3 times.

Anonymous (March 3, 2006)

this album rules. fuck you.

Anonymous (February 20, 2006)

This score is for the review, because I can't remember the last time I read a review that was both articulate and actually described to me what the album sounded like. Good job buddy!

Anonymous (February 16, 2006)

jesus rock! who needs it. when will tooth and nail fail?jihad,jihad!

FuckYouOiOiOi (February 15, 2006)

i've always hated godsmack. and some of my good friends liked them and thought they were more into rock than me for liking them. god, i'm glad those days are over.

crazytoledo (February 15, 2006)

When I first heard it I litereally said:

'They'll follow what?'

Obviously not this.

Anonymous (February 15, 2006)

Does anyone else see the irony in the title of this album?

crazytoledo (February 15, 2006)

Staind was actually rolling in 02 and crap.

Dante3000 (February 14, 2006)

Toledo, I know "Hollow Again" that was off of Truthless Heros an album I actually listened to while working at a college station (mentioned it earlier).
That was 2002 however, well after most bands were playing that crap. Even Staind was making it big with acoustic ballads by then.
I just know their first real release was in 1998 when this stuff was a lot bigger and they never seemed to develop too much.
-Dante

crazytoledo (February 14, 2006)

Posted by gladimnotemo on 2006-02-14 13:52:21

I loved this band in 6th grade.

I think it was 7th grade for me.

This band is riding a fade that died out a decade ago. Bands like Staind and Godsmack were never good. However, it is impossible to ignore that they were very popular. This band is equally as bad as the previously mentioned bands, but unlike those bands they didn't get big in 1998. As a result they make bad music that used to be popular, like hair metal bands.

This band has been around since then and they did get reasonably big back on Atlantic. Ever hear 'Hollow Again,' they didn't doo too much after that. I know around 6 motnhs after that song hit the air waves I heard another song on the stereo system at Best Buy.

Dante3000 (February 14, 2006)

Review in a nutshell: this band was SO a decade ago. If you want to be hip and cool with the kids, don't listen to this.
No.
This band is riding a fade that died out a decade ago. Bands like Staind and Godsmack were never good. However, it is impossible to ignore that they were very popular. This band is equally as bad as the previously mentioned bands, but unlike those bands they didn't get big in 1998. As a result they make bad music that used to be popular, like hair metal bands.
-Dante

dietcokeofpunk (February 14, 2006)

vaguely reminds me of senior year, when this kind of stuff was all i listend to. i was such a loser, cuz this is crap.

Anonymous (February 14, 2006)

Review in a nutshell: this band was SO a decade ago. If you want to be hip and cool with the kids, don't listen to this.

etwiels88 (February 14, 2006)

Score is for Trail of Dead

youwinalemon (February 14, 2006)

One of my roommates last semester absolutely fucking loved this band. He seriously thought they were the greatest band to ever grace the earth.

I did not think highly of the guy.

gladimnotemo (February 14, 2006)

I loved this band in 6th grade.

Anonymous (February 14, 2006)

nu-metal and pop punk were better trends than this shit what passes for 'emo' nowadays.

crazytoledo (February 14, 2006)

I remember 'Hollow Again,' that was a good song.

'Necktie Remedy,' 'All of Me,' and 'Sincerly Icabold' are all good hard rock songs, the rest is painfully average genric radio rock fodder.

Dante3000 (February 14, 2006)

I remember hearing Thruthless Hereos (I may actually still have it) and being like, "These guys may just catch the tail end of this trend".
Apparently, they did not. It's a shame really. They're better than some of the bands that sold millions in that trend but not really good enough to stand on their own.
-Dante