DUST TO DUST

Brooklyn-born Rob Traynor, founder and bassist of DUST TO DUST, is an admitted 'Angry Man' (I'll have to ask him why he's so pissed off if I get the chance to interview him). The songs on his band's debut on Sanctuary records are filled with brutality, angst, and fury, all of which spawned from his sometimes-outcast upbringing in a lower income household in Brooklyn.

The by product of Rob's upbringing is a collection of songs that chug along, prompting the listener to break glass and eat it...with ketchup. For instance, the first single, "New Low", is a story told from the perspective of a drug dealer looming the streets of an otherwise safe neighborhood, preying upon children. Nice, huh?

Musically, the influences are all over the place. There are some clear ALICE IN CHAINS influences; which isn't a surprise, seeing how Rob gigged around with several grungier bands in the mid 90's before growing fed up with the music he was playing. There's also a strong odor of METALIICA eminating from Traynor's songs (especially in the opening chords of Track 1, "Mr. Doe"), which isn't surprising either, because he had a stint in a Metallica cover band with Johnny Kelly of TYPE O NEGATIVE.

The one thing I'd like to hear more of in DUST TO DUST's tunes are stronger hooks. Don't get me wrong, there are hooks in the songs, but aside from a handful, many sound like they've been done already. Traynor's influences are broad enough, and his voice is strong enough so that if the songs were a bit hookier, he could have a few really big hits on his hands.

Taking a tip from Type-O Negative, Dust to Dust add keyboard and synth sounds to their songs to thicken up the songs, and it works very well in songs like "Mr. Doe" and the intro to "New Low". It's ear candy, rather than a primary instrument.

While I wouldn't classify them as entirely Nu Metal sounding, they have enough of an influence to rank them up with the likes of STATIC-X, DISTURBED, and DROWNING POOL. Hopefully Sanctuary will give these guys a few discs to build some momentum.

Buy DUST TO DUST now!