Speak No Evil's new effort is an astonishingly bold step into a new direction for a band who were once steeped deep within the southern tinged vein of metal. In fact, at most times "Welcome To The Downside" can nearly sound like an entirely different band than that which was featured on their past outing. Now choosing to enlist the abrasive modern metal crunch of say Sevendust combined with the relentless song structures of Stuck Mojo, the songs barrel forth with a hard edged sound that is rounded out with Pantera like aggression and Alice In Chains/Stereomud reminiscent bursts of melody.

With Phil Anselmo of Pantera reminiscent snarls and an edgy in your face delivery similar to that of Bonz of Stuck Mojo, band frontman Curtis Skelton ignites a musical fuse that explodes across the tracks with moral and political lyrical shrapnel impacting anywhere possible. But that's only the more aggressive oral aspect of this CD, which also features backing vocals courtesy of band bassist Greg Weiss and guitarist Lisardo M. Rios. Definitely not one-sided, accomplished soulful melodies are also flawlessly mixed in, sounding like a cross somewhere between Sevendust's Lajon Witherspoon and Soundgarden's Chris Cornell. Meanwhile, punchy riffs pepper the tracks with aggro chugs and sharp distorted lunges that thrash about with a decidedly crunchy modern metal flair, complete with talented musicianship and expansive playing that even goes on to incorporate a few eastern scales. Bass wise the songs are a bit more timid, constantly simmering under the surface with dulled hits and scratchy rumblings that lock things in place. On the other hand, the drumming performance captured here is instead quite complimentary to the guitar work, using ample cymbal splashes and ride hits to accentuate its stable of deep hitting doubled up kicks and balanced, pugnacious rolls that effortlessly keep a steady pace.

The music contained within this album is definitely a lot more energetic and visceral than anything the band have ever been before and with a solid message to tie it all together, the songs defiantly attack the listener, smearing them across the pavement without so much as missing a beat. Its a lot more experimental in the sense of the mild incorporation of ethnic sounds as well, though the general feel is a lot leaner, with enough dedicated focus to force the songs hit their intended target like a sniper bullet... quick, efficient and deadly. Admittedly, the disc starts off fast and furious and around midway through can begin to lull a bit as the song formulas tend to borrow from each other more than often. But aside from that, the material contained here is quite vibrant and empowering, successfully assaulting with both weathered emotional melody and blisteringly vengeful anger. Where the band take it from here is anybody's guess, but if this is only the downside of things, the upside will more than make this act an intimidating force to be reckoned with.