Having established a solid fan base with their well received major label debut "Statement", Nonpoint now find themselves in the position to take it to the next level and when judging by the songs and sheer determination contained upon "Development", it looks like they have one hell of a shot. Channeling their sound into a more streamlined and melodic direction, this offering finds the group smoothing out the rough grooves of days past into sleek song transitions topped off with stunning choruses and an overall cleaner focus that will no doubt allow them to appeal to a larger audience.

Band frontman Elias Soriano's performance is one of the most prevalent signs of the bands latest "development" as he hits notes with far more ease and manages to belt out some sweeping, thought provoking choruses in the process. Gone are the rap styled passages he once toiled with and in their place are emphatically aggressive melodic verses that feel soothing, yet edgy as his words are often spoken with a strong underlying conviction that keeps them sounding hungry. The guitar riffs have also followed in a similar direction, straying from their once aggro metal stylings to instead blossom with spiraling clean toned notes, zooming effects, large distorted crunch riffs and the occasional acoustic strum to craft songs that can almost bring to mind the Red Hot Chili Peppers during their mellower moments. To compliment this the bass lines have been stepped up a notch energy wise and utilize a plethora of booming notes, slides and twisting progressions with a light funk edge to give the music a substantial amount of restrained poignancy. This rhythmic direction bodes well for band drummer Robb Rivera whose extremely hard hitting and crisply tuned drumming performance causes the music to punch forward with a restrained intensity that is cleverly expressed through tenacious rolls and brisk cymbal work.

Almost a concept album of sorts, "Development" starts off with an explanation of the life cycle of the frog, a creature whose become the bands mascot of sorts over recent years. With more commentary in the same National Geographic reminiscent fashion interspersed throughout the record to the ultimate end of its life cycle being spoken of as the album ends, an interesting perspective is placed upon what the group are trying to convey with their music. Concepts or not though this album is still littered with the same blunt heavy grooves and aggressiveness Nonpoint managed to capitalize upon with their last release, except now is it far more balanced with their melodic side. It is this increased usage of huge hooks and multiple flowing song transitions, along with a slightly beefed up commercially friendly arsenal, which brightly display not only the bands improvement as musicians, but their stronger song writing ability as well. Sure this direction may hurt them a bit in the long run as the stronger emphasis on harmonies and such will likely turn away a few of their older fans, but after a few listens its hard not to be at least somewhat charmed by what is laid out here as it tends to grow more enjoyable with each listen. This may also be another potential downfall for the band though, because during the first few listens the tracks can almost seem a bit bland and repetitive, not really catching on until a few listens later. Such subtleties aren't helped by the band enlisting the same song structures and formulas a bit more than necessary either. Regardless though this record still lives up to what its title suggests, as it showcases a band refining and bettering themselves by trying out new ideas to expand their sound and reach the next plateau. While some artists attempt such a process and subsequently crash and burn through blatant trial and error, Nonpoint instead pull off a gracefully competent album that shows they have far more depth than most would expect and as such, look to be one of the few groups with enough talent to ride out from under the crashing nu-metal wave which many had unfairly lumped them into.