Superfiction

Album Review

Cold took a six-year break after the release of 2005’s A Different Kind of Pain but they did not use the half-decade hiatus as an opportunity to rethink their musical outlook. They may be a little older and a little slower, two elements that combine on the power ballad “American Dream,” which sounds disarmingly similar to DAUGHTRY, but Cold remain faithful to their post-grunge alt-metal legacy on Superfiction. After the bluster of the opening “Wicked World” fades away, Superfiction settles into a deliberate churn, with neither the music nor the message rising above a simmer. It’s an album to wallow in, provided that you share some sensibilities with Scooter Ward, who is maturing slightly — it’s evident in his topics and tempos — yet he's still compelled to filter all his emotions through the same dour metallic strain of his adolescence, a habit that keeps Superfiction in line with Cold’s previous albums yet seals it away from any potential new listeners.