Review Summary: Oh Seattle where art thou? The right record at the wrong time.
Second Coming, a Seattle based band with a name that couldn't be more appropriate for a band and album released at the end of the nineties, when a second wave of Seattle/Grunge influenced bands raided American Rock radio. Remember Creed and Days of the New? This was also their second album and their second line-up. They must have visited a fortune teller before deciding on their name. But none of that would have mattered it this had turned out to be a crappy album. So is it any good?
Second Coming's music is a mix of alternative rock and grunge with the use of some heavier 'industrial' riffs and electronics to complement the sound. They are not as heavy or dark as Alice in Chains, rock as hard as Stone Temple Pilots, or use as much electronics as Nine Inch Nails, but the overall vibe of the music is definitely similar. There are multiple causes for this similarity, but the main one is vocalist Travis Bracht, who sounds like a classic rock influenced mix of Layne Staley and Scott Weiland. He sings his heart out on multiple occasions, mixing the heartfelt emotion of Layne with the harmonies and quality of Scott.
To answer the question of the first paragraph, this is a very well written and performed rock album. An album with a lot of highlights. Great sludge-AIC-type rock songs like 'Confessional', more up-tempo rockers like 'Soft' and 'Unknown Rider' and beautiful ballads like 'Travisty' and 'The War'. An album that will take you back to the early nineties when a few bands out of Seattle changed the game. This could have been one of those bands, but that wasn’t meant to be.
I never understood why this didn’t get the attention it deserved. This may not have been as radio friendly as Creed and yes, it came out 5 years after Kurt ended grunge, but it had it all. Good production, a good variety of songs, musicians that knew what they were doing and a vocalist who could compete with the best. Maybe it’s because this band didn’t have that typical grunge sound. The use of electronics made this more of an alternative rock album with an industrial feel than a typical grunge album. Seems like a case of right album at the wrong time.
