Rain, the sophomore album from New Jersey's 40 Below Summer, was originally self-released back in 2001 before the band signed their contract with Crash Music. Now the band and label are reissuing this long sought after EP complete with seven bonus tracks and new packaging. The music of 40 Below Summer sits firmly in the nu-metal category, as you can hear similarities to Korn, POD, Rage Against the Machine, and Disturbed, as the band combines heavy rock guitar riffs with a vocal mix of anguished screams, growls, raps, and clean melodic passages. This band obviously had a lot of talent, as evidenced by the catchy melodies mixed with brutal metal crunch on "Faces" and "Endorphins", although the music sounds a tad dated listening to it now, as this style of metal had its rise and fall already 5-8 years ago. Still, there's no denying the power of tracks like "We the People", "Wither Away", and "Falling Down", all three solid examples of what the nu-metal genre had to offer, and very similar to what you stylewise on the first few Korn albums. Vocalist Max Illidge offers up plenty of vocal styles throughout, which keeps things constantly interesting, and his band mates solidify things with a non-stop barrage of metal thump and funky rap grooves.
Bottom line is, if you missed this band the first time around, now's your chance to experience for yourself the hype that surrounded them early in their career.
Track Listing
1. Falling Down
2. Endorphins
3. Letter To God
4. Jonesin'
5. Faces
6. We the People
7. Wither Away
8. Smile Electric
9. Rope
10. Power Tool
11. Minus One
12. Still Life
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