Beneath the Scars

Personnel: Skidd Mills (guitar, programming); David Angel , David Davidson (violin); Monisa Angel (viola); Sari Reist, John Catchings (cello); Grant Craig (programming); Paul McCoy (background vocals).
Recording information: Littlebig Sound, Nashville, TN; Skiddco Studios; SOund Kitchen, Franklin, TN.
12 Stones' fourth studio album, Beneath the Scars, finds the Louisiana-based rockers primed and ready for mainstream rock radio. Stocked with some high-quality, hard-edged, fist-pumping anthems that blend social and political commentary with subtle themes of personal, and sometimes faith-based, responsibility, the band's first album for the Texas-based Executive Music Group impresses with stand-out cuts like "Infected," "Bulletproof," "One Thing," and "Bury Me." Beneath the Scars also sports its fair share of more melodic, acoustic-driven material like "Blind" and "Shine on Me," both of which are pleasant enough, but do little to distinguish themselves from the myriad other midtempo/power ballad offerings from contemporaries like Evanescence, Creed, and Three Doors Down. ~ James Christopher Monger