One of Knoxville's best-kept secrets is the band Nailed. Much like Mudhoney and other obscure bands that Nirvana hailed once they were given a voice, Disciple is going to be the first band to make the biggest splash from Knoxville, and they will surely brag on their brothers in Nailed, whom they have shared many a stage with.
Justin Bolli takes a filtered vocal sound during many a verse, busting out with a scream for the chorus. It makes for good dynamics, especially in the hypnotic "Dying," which states: "Are you dying for a reason? Jesus is the Reason." The band backs Justin up well, with fuzzy and feedbacking, chiming guitars in most spots, and on time rhythm chomping in others. "M2" is another memorable tune in a similar musical vein. The chorus that will stick with you says: "My God loves you / but He hates your sin / He hates your sin!"
One has to tip their hat to Travis Wyrick for a swell job of dialing in some nice guitar and drum sounds (especially the drums in "Breath" and "Bleed Me"). This allows the band to succeed where a band like Killed By Cain failed. The good ideas here are realized and come firing out of the speakers. The tempo of the first five songs sets up the melodic "Suicide," which makes me wish I could produce a video for it and help this song get in rotation on television. I mean, Justin's got a mean enough mug to look cool. This is a modern rock single that could use the boost of a visual image like video. I digress.
The only down spot on the album I could find was the song "Peel," which also includes some of the best moments in the band's career. One of these moments is the vocal expression in the first verse - when he screams "all the way!" with all the conviction of a life or death matter. Then the chorus comes and gets delivered almost matter-of-factly, especially in contrast to the raspy and intense verse. Another highlight in this song is the killer breakdown in the bridge. I'd like to hear more of this kind of thing and less of that kind of chorus.
The good points, of course, outweigh the bad by 13 to 1. While Entity shows a sonic progression for the band, they are more free to experiment than their compatriots in Bride, who always have to be compared to their Snakes... album. Nailed can venture into Alice In Chains grunge territory in a song like "Broken," or fly into the Filter sound in "Mindfield" and not be held back by previous expectations. If this were not good enough, the band adds a couple good live tracks to boot - "Drowning" and "Punk."
While these are some of the nicest boys you've ever met, this album is mean.