From the hot and arid landscape of Phoenix, Arizona emerges the hard rock act The Sammus Theory who aims to fix all that they feel is wrong with today’s music. They believe that too many bands and musicians have lost the ability to inspire and leave an impression that lasts. In an age of fleeting interests and ‘here today’ but ‘gone tomorrow’ bands, it would seem that most acts are lacking all the pieces of the puzzle required to formulate the modern day successful rock band.
Some may view this as arrogant, but in all fairness they have every reason to be. Their album is a sweet recipe of infectious melodies that ultimately get stuck in your head – I should know having had the album on repeat all day. With saying that, the album does not get boring - even when it is on repeat. The genre may be metal but it is easy listening metal. You can keep focus on work with it in the background whereas you probably would struggle doing this with some other heavier metal bands.
Weaving the likes of bands such as Tool, Breaking Benjamin, Seether and Puddle of Mudd, they bring their own unique sound into the gritty, musically solid style. The Sammus Theory has found a winning formula that is knocking their fans over.
With an effortless finesse topped with raw, unbridled energy, The Sammus Theory perform like a group of seasoned road veterans who have been touring for decades. They captivate, drawing the crowd in with their on-stage personas and leave the audience wanting more after they’ve gone. The band has toured relentlessly for the last four years and has no plans to quit. They have shared the stage with big names like Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine, Stone Sour, and Shinedown.
Commercially, The Sammus Theory has been a featured artist on MTV2 with a video airing nation-wide daily during regular hours and on “Rock the Deuce” since march of 2008.
Trusting the Liar is the third album from the band and has a more refined sound that the first two albums album. It feels like the band have perfected their sound and you can hear it in their music.
The song that stands out for me on the album is “Pedestal”, which has a good balance of intense riffs mixed with melody. Part of the song feels rather intense and you can hear that in both the grueling lyrics and repetitive strings – kind of like the Jaws theme but scarier. Obviously, this is metal were talking about.
“Trusting the Liar” the title track follows “Pedestal” and the order of songs could not be more spot on. This is the perfect track to follow. It begins with soft piano notes which contrast from the previous song, bring a chilled out feel. However, there are sections of screaming vocals, but they complement the overall impassioned tone of the song.
I really enjoy the way The Sammus Theory mixs up their style in the songs. They do not stick to solely screaming or melodic vocals but uses them both in a way that completely works.
The plucking guitar chords in “Falling Down” sound a little bit country in the same style that Seether sometimes sound a little bit country. It is a style that flaunts Hugh’s vocal range and allows the band to showcase their musical talents.
“In Line” is rather angry, sporting the line “you better watch your fucking back”. But, I imagine this is one of the most popular tracks with their fans because – have we not all felt like that? Those seething sorts of rage that you just cannot let sink to the bottom without getting it off your chest. The drums are pivotal with crashing symbols – they really bring presence to the song.
It is definitely an album to stick on your ‘albums to listen to’ list. Being British, I never heard of the band before this review, but I feel that their sound would be welcomed over here - especially with the recent success of bands like Mastodon. I will be keeping an eye on their progress and hopefully they make their way across the ocean so I can see them live.
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