IV

Godsmack

Six albums into its career, Godsmack finds itself faced with the challenge of moving forward without betraying its roots. Although the veteran act manages to offer up a handful of convincing tunes on this hour-long affair, IV fails to hang together as a cohesive and convincing album. The opening "Living In Sin" and its follow-up "Speak" rock with conviction although neither breaks new ground; "The Enemy"––a reasonably good approximation of a latter-day Metallica tune––proves persuasive while "Shine Down" and "No Rest For The Wicked" are radio-ready distractions. As good as those and a number of the other songs are IV never locks into any particular groove and ultimately amounts to little more than a batch of songs placed end-to-end on a disc that's roughly 20 minutes too long. By the record's final moments––the passionate but decidedly dated angst-filled dirge "Mama," the meandering "One Rainy Day"––the listener grows weary of treading down an all-too-familiar path with a band that still has a promising future if only it could let go of its unyielding grip on its own past.--Jedd Beaudoin

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