A.D.D. - Core

March 25, 2015, 8 years ago

(Pavement Entertainment)

Kelley Simms

Rating: 8.0

review heavy metal a.d.d.

A.D.D. - Core

Chicago female-fronted A.D.D. combines pulsating modern rock with grungy Alice In Chains vocal harmonies and wah-wah-driven guitar melodies. The band’s sophomore release, Core, consists of ten hard-driving tunes decorated with heavy riffs, soaring choruses and a solid rhythm section. The raspy, commanding vocals of front woman Margaret Young is one of the album’s highlights. Imagine Doro Pesch fronting Godsmack or Sevendust, then you’ll get the idea of what A.D.D. sounds like. The band blends some fantastic influences together while still managing to create its own sound.

CD-opener “I Regret” explodes with some modern metal guitar melodies and crunching riffs, proving to be a fine start to the album. The Sevendust-esque “Not My Way” may not have much variation or transitional riffs, but the melodies and harmonies are so strong that they manage to carry the song and keep it interesting. “Was My Life” is a soaring ’80s power metal ballad, decorated with sweetly-melodic and heartfelt vocal harmonies by Young. “Damn Thing” would be killer in the live setting while “Nightmare,” just shy of 3 minutes, still manages to pack quite a punch. Although the tracks are well-constructed, they are lacking in the guitar solo department. It would have been nice to hear guitarist Dave Adams just rip one off at some point. However, finishing off the 37-minute album with a fine rendition of Sevendust’s “Black” makes perfect sense, as the band seems to fit into A.D.D.’s DNA.



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