Optimus Prime - Dead End
by James

Optimus Prime is the metal head's rapcore band. While the vocals do occasionally break into very rappy parts, the music is consistently very metal. That is to be expected when you have a former death metal drummer manning the skins, though. Optimus brings a wide range of influences to the table with their debut full-length, Dead End - from death metal to nu metal to hardcore. They mix it all together into one very heavy package that has a little something for every heavy music fan.

Dead End starts out with the very rappy "The Waking", which gives front man Mike Paul a chance to show that there are still rapcore bands with frontmen that can actually rap and not just talk fast. The drums are what really keep me listening to Optimus, though. Trey Jacobs does a great job of keeping things interesting and uses a lot of really cool fills and beats. The intro parts to "Slip 'n Slide" and "Shit Lips" are just cool as hell. That is not to say that the guitars are not equally rocking. Johnny Dogg Benfield and Chris Patrick should be commended for not resorting to ripping off Korn and Limp Bizkit, like 99% of the rapcore bands that have come out since LB and Korn got big have done. Instead, I would say their riffs are much more Kerry King inspired than they are Wes Borland, but like I said, this is a metal head's rapcore band. Now, I could not keep this review fair without mentioning the boldest track on the CD - a cover of Snoop Dogg's "Murder Was The Case". If you didn't like the original, this one may not change your mind, but, dammit, I love it. They stay true to the original song, but do it in a way that only Optimus Prime could. That song also gives Johnny a chance to handle a larger portion of the vocal duties, instead of the smaller bits he gets in some of the other songs.

I think one thing I always liked about OP, is that they do not take themselves too seriously. They are heavy as shit, but they are also very fun to listen to. Hidden within that fun, though, is some good song structure, powerful guitars and pounding drums. I do find myself enjoying the heavier, less rappy songs more, because Johnny and Mike both have really cool screams, and I think Optimus Prime is really in their element when they just cut loose and rip shit up. While they do stand out from the crowd of shitty rapcore bands that are out there, I still feel that this is a genre quickly on it's way out the door.