Band:	Natural Dracs
Album:	So Close
Style:	Rock
Release date:	2004

01. Waiting
02. Deep
03. Mistakes
04. Don't Talk Shit
05. Reflejos

They've really scared me at first. Seriously. When they send their promo to a metal site, these guys should watch what they're saying, because they didn't leave a very good first impression: 'Our songs,(...), are part of the hard rock movement, so en vogue around the world thanks to Linkin Park, Korn, Limp Bizkit, etc'. Ahem, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit? I HATE THESE BANDS and all their followers! They all sound the same to me. So I was gone for a nice little flaming on this album. Then I put the cd in my player and...

... this is not the kind of stuff I like, but I'm not going to be too hard on this album. First because it's well done, nice production, they play like a very professional band, the artwork is classic but quite pleasant. Then because it has nothing similar to Limp Bizkit (that's a really good thing). Except for the second track, which is, oh surprise, the single, that sounds too much like a Linkin Park song (at this point it's called plagiarism) and that follows closely the hateful trend of nu-rock, this five-track cd is in the vein of bands like Nickelback. That means it's as far from metal as it can be, with catchy pop/hard-rock melodies. The first track 'Waiting' is not bad but has nothing really outstanding that could make me say 'hey we're gonna hear of this band soon on mtv'. Let's go quickly over the we-want-teens-to-listen-to-us 'Deep' that is, as I said, a bit too trendy to be good. By the way, I'll go quickly over 'Don't Talk Shit' as well, it's a bit less Linkin Park-like, but it's still in the same genre. The cool ballad 'Mistakes' and its Spanish cover 'Reflejos' is more interesting although not the most heartbreaking song I've ever heard. Still it has some nice melodies and good vocal performance. I also tend to like more the Spanish version, this language fits more in this song.

So to sum up, three songs out of five are worth listening, that's more than I could hope. But for fuck sake, when will these bands understand that singing like a cat whose tail has been driven over by a car is not melodic? I just can't stand these rasp vocals, they make me think of somebody having a bad cold... Other than that, people who like this particular genre may find something stunning in Natural Dracs, but it's not my case. Next please.