Lordchain would have you think it is still the early 90's -- Headbanger's Ball is on MTV, Alice in Chains and Metallica still rule the radio, and leather and long hair are still the haute couture of the day. Cracked is a statement that metal never died, it just got swept under the rug by grunge, rap, and emo.
Musically, there are elements of Alice in Chains ("Memorial"), Metallica (including blatant guitar line imitations in "Cracked" and "Lazy I"), Petra ("Undone" and "Diffuse"), Yonderboy ("Under My Chair"), and some Dream Theater/Queensryche prog moments. The problem here is that none of the derivative guitar stylings or vocal inflections ever reaches the level of their mentors. Thankfully, though, Lordchain avoids any of the nu-metal approaches or rap/rock clichés.
"Face Down" features vocal harmonies, and a guitar/bass duo that attempt to reach King's X territory, but falls short. "9th of June" is a Galactic Cowboys cover. "Lazy I" reworks the guitar riff from Metallica's "One," while "Cracked" does the same thing with that same group's "Enter Sandman."
Lordchain is obvious about their love for metal, and it shows. To me, though, Cracked comes up short of the level to which it aspires. It never decides on a style -- not stoner rock, not groove metal, not prog, but a little of each. Some bands can make this work, but Cracked falls just short of having that happen.
2.5 tocks
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