Cold - A Different Kind of Pain

Hmm..

Cold.

I don't think I've seen a band in recent memory have so much going for them and yet never seem for people to 'get it'. They started something with the last CD called 'Year of the Spider' and actually started to get airplay with 'Stupid Girl' only to have Terry Balsamo bail out and join Evanescence after Ben Moody left the band. Several false starts later trying out new guitarists they finally decide to grab a friend of a friend who's a big Cold fan and see if the vibe would work.

It worked.

A Different Kind of Pain hit my mailbox this morning thanks to my wonderful connection at a local radio station. This is easily their best material yet, and 'Spider' was DAMN good. It's hard to pick out the strongest tracks here.. because they're just all really solid.

The first three tracks are similar, medium tempo, standard Cold songs. Great melody, great vocals, and filled with hook.

Then the title track hits. Big change of pace. A haunting ballad-esque song that speaks of love lost and the ensuing heartbreak. But there's more to this song that the initial listen.. There's undertones that maybe this isn't so much about love as just the pain of losing someone you care about, in this case.. Terry Balsamo. The guitarist who along with lead singer 'Scooter' built the band over the past 9 years.

Another Pill then continues the depressing overtones detailing the growing 'self-medication' trend of drug abuse today. A heavy topic for sure.. but not everyone sings happy songs.

Things certainly pick up emotionally from there.. It's not all gloom and doom. What follows is just more solid music from one of my favorite bands out there today.

This is already one of my new favorite CD's. Everything is solid and I have yet to fast forward through a song to get to something different. It's all just that good. These guys lumped in with Staind a lot. And truthfully, they share a similar sound at times. But this is all Cold. And all worth the wait.

Short version: You're going to want to buy this come August 30th.