Back Into Your System

Saliva try their asses off. You can practically smell the sweat dripping off their second album, but all their exertion does little to liven up what is essentially just another dull entry in the hard-rock sweepstakes. Back Into Your System has all the necessary “active-rock” moves down pat—a barrage of power chords, forceful drumming, and the strident, earnest wails of frontman Josey Scott—but they add few of their own to the mix. “All Because of You” is one of the record’s unsurprising power ballads, grinding out chunky guitar riffs at a laborious pace; “Raise Up” is an ill-advised rap-rock number, with Scott showing off rhyming skills that may put Fred Durst to shame but remain embarrassing nonetheless. A melodic Southern-rock edge lends a little personality to the otherwise pedestrian riffage on “Holding On” and Scott proves he isn’t a half-bad rock vocalist on “Rest In Pieces” (which was written with Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx), but for something so loud and, well, so full of effort, it’s shocking how easy this album is both to ignore and to forget.