Boston's
Godsmack practices the sort of post-industrial metal made popular by White
Zombie and perpetuated by Tool and Alice In Chains. But by mixing the raw
riffing of their peers with the machine-gun rhythms of Nine Inch Nails,
they distinguish themselves from the pack. On their self-titled major label
debut, they demonstrate the commitment to furthering the evolution of metal
that won them a loyal fan base in New England.
Singer
Sully screams his way through a dozen tunes chock full of chunky guitars
and moshing rhythms. In keeping with the tone of modern metal, he sings
about his own demons and failings rather than vaguely defined ills of society.
While no threat to Dave Mustaine or Cliff Burton, guitarist Tony and bassist
Robbie have a commanding presence that emphasizes attitude and power over
technique. And drummer Tommy has picked up where Lars Ulrich left off with
quirky fills that add a depth to the sometimes two-dimensional rhythms.
GODSMACK
is a Boston-based band who were simply too undeniable to be ignored. Their
self-titled major label debut isn't a calculated, big-budget offering.
In fact, it started out as a self-released CD the band recorded in 1996
for about $2,500 with money they borrowed from a friend. Expecting maybe
to make back the costs of recording, they peddled the disc to a local retail
chain, Newbury Comics, the only outlet that agreed to carry the project.
Shortly thereafter, a disc jockey at local radio station WAAF embraced
the song "Keep Away" and began playing the song on his weekly evening program.
Meanwhile, the band was performing regularly on the Boston club scene and
soon drew the attention of Paul Geary, a long-time friend of Sully's and
former drummer and manager of the group Extreme, who inevitably signed
the band to his management company PGE.
Before
long, airplay increased dramatically. With the blistering track "Whatever"
(a combustive cut that grooves as it grinds) being spun regularly on WAAF,
sales grew at a staggering rate. The disc became the #2 best-selling album
at Newbury Comics.
"I
was really shocked," recalls Sully, "Our album began selling 900 to 1000
copies a week!" After meeting with several interested labels, GODSMACK
chose to sign with Republic Records in July 1998.
Before
Sully formed GODSMACK, he played drums in a band called Strip Mind, which
broke up in 1994. For a year, he went into hibernation, then he started
getting that itch to write music again, so he called up his friend/bassist
Robbie Merrill and asked him if he was interested in jamming on some new
stuff. The two hooked up with drummer Tommy Stewart (ex-Lillian Axe) and
local guitarist Lee Richards. A few months later, both Richards and Stewart
quit the band. Guitarist Tony Rombolo skillfully slipped into the guitar
slot and a guy named Joe Darko filled the drumseat for a few years, although
he didn't actually play on the band's record. That honor was held by Sully,
who has been playing drums since age four. In 1997, after the band's star
sign had begun to rise, Darko left and GODSMACK invited original drummer
Stewart back into the fold.
Throughout
the album, Sully sings about the emotional extremes that often shadow people
with intense lifestyles. "Timebomb" addresses the day-to-day pressures
and frustrations that life often dished out, "Immune" is about urban vampires
who suck the identities from their victims by emulating their fashion sense
and behavior patterns and "Voodoo" is based on the bizarre film epic The
Serpent and the Rainbow.
"There
are a lot of emotional highs and lows in my songs, but they're genuine
emotions" says Sully, "I seem to do my best writing when I'm down. For
me, writing is a release of energy." In addition to channeling his energies
through GODSMACK's aggressive music, he channels that energy via more spiritual
paths as well. He is a practicing Witch of the Celtic Religion (WICCA)
under Salem Witch Laurie Cabot, and he continues to weave the Wiccan arts
and rituals into the fabric of his daily life. "It's been my salvation,"
he says candidly. "A lot of people are confused about witchcraft, it's
simply about worshipping the power of the earth, and that's it! It's a
positive religion that has helped me through a lot of bad times."
