Southforty - These Days
by James

Take Zach de la Rocha's insightful lyrics, mix in Korn's down-tuned aggression and add a touch of melodic goodness and what you will get is Southforty's album, These Days. I have to admit that I had mixed emotions the first time I sat down to listen to this album. See, I am sick of the rapcore scene, for the most part, because very few bands that I hear are bringing anything new and invigorating to the table, opting to simply follow in the footsteps of bands like Rage and Limp Bizkit. Southforty had a pretty good fight on their hands when I sat down to listen to this CD and they were going to have to do something pretty amazing to win me over. Track #6, sk7961, was that something amazing that they needed to do. It was the one track that kept me spinning this CD over and over and now I love the whole CD. See, sk7961 is a song about the West Memphis Three (three teenage guys accused, tried and convicted of murder in Arkansas for the murder of two small boys). Many believe that the guys were railroaded for the crime simply because they liked to dress in black, listened to metal, and practiced wicca (how many people reading this review do the first two apply to?) . It opens with some commentary from what I can only assume is Damien Echols(one of the accused boys)' father that sets the stage for a very dark, angry song. As he is speaking, the bass comes thumping in and than they slap you in the head with a heavy, low riff from the guitar, followed by shortly by bitter, angry vocals. The song has a slow, grooving riff that does an excellent job, along with the vocals, of setting the mood and tone of this song. When you finish hearing it, you understand how frustrating it is to know that these guys have been fucked over by the system and there is very little we can do to change that. Speaking of vocals, Kyle Cermak is blessed with a distinctively smooth voice that really helps give the music a dark feel that goes well with the lyrics that he is spitting. The lyrics are insightful, as I said, and there is no pimp rock bullshit found on this album. Southforty is not wasting your time talking about pimping hoes, drinking 40s and smoking weed like refugees from a Snoop Dogg album. Instead, they attempt to elevate your mind and make you a better and more intelligent person after hearing this CD and they do it without ever sounding preachy or making you feel like they are better than you are. Whore is a striking commentary on women who feel they have to be thin to be considered beautiful and the modern media that puts that idea in their head. Smiles, a song about the loss of a father, is retrospective and sad without sounding pathetic. The words of a man who wanted to give his father a lasting tribute. You will not find a song on this album that was written "just to bang another song out real quick." Every song sounds well thought out, practiced and fine-tuned to be exactly what they wanted it to be when they sat down to write it. This album will be the measure by which I judge other bands trying to make this kind of music from now on.