Minneapolis, MN based Sunset Black belt out a sincere and heavy hearted brand of hard rock that brings to mind acts like finger eleven, Staind and more, but where most bands versed in the style opt for polish and packaging, this quartet instead prefer to arrange their songs with a more raw and organic blueprint.

Emphatic and layered with thick riff driven shoves, the bands music is a dense and focused aural wallop as weary emotion gives way to fiery aggression in a progression that seems honest and artistic yet still has enough commercial sensibility to appeal to a diverse audience. The tight and brawny rhythm section seems to set a heady tone for the band as careening treble heavy guitar riffs crisscross their way overtop of it, only to duck underneath the contrasting vocals of frontman/guitarist Brandon Simmons and guitarist Mike Evans. This somewhat two pronged vocal attack, although often underused, creates a sharp interplay and adds a strong contrast to the material when fully implemented.

Admittedly "Common Ground" is a fairly dark and dreary album and one that suffers heavily from a lack of any momentum changing dynamics. The songs are crafted well enough but they also tend to sound the same, taking on a slow paced flow that quickly becomes tiring without any real surprises thrown in. It is a solid rock record and stands on its own merits in that respect, but in the year 2002 there are thousands of solid rock records and without any real innovation or quirky uniqueness to set it apart, its hard not to feel that Sunset Black do in fact tread a ground that is all too common, leaving this an album that will have a tough time cutting its way out of the pack, even if it is more authentic and heartfelt than a lot of its competition.