Faceless

With Metallica busy ratting out their download-happy fans to the Feds, someone had to step in to make serviceable Metallica records. Enter Godsmack. Faceless boasts loud, bottom-heavy hard rock without the groan-inducing hip-hop poses endemic to nü-metal. Sully Erna’s beastly bellowing on “Changes” is so James Hetfield it’s almost silly, but with their workmanlike crush of punishing guitar riffs and blitzkrieg drumming, Godsmack almost make up for their lack of inspiration with some heavy perspiration.