Blackout

Hed P.E.: Jahred (vocals); Sonny, Wes (guitar); Mawk (bass); B.C. (drums);
DJ Product (turntables).
Additional personnel: Chad Benekos (guitar); Wes Geer, Mark Young (programming).
Producers: Machine, Steve Thompson, Mike Bradford.
Recorded at Machine Shop, Hoboken, New Jersey; Studio West, San Diego, California; Cello, Hollywood, California; Chunky Style, Los Angeles, California; NRG Studios, North Hollywood, California.
Personnel: Jahred (vocals); Wes Geer (guitar); Clinton Bradley (programming).
Audio Mixers: John Goodmanson; Rich Costey; Steve Thompson .
Recording information: Cello Studios, Hollywood, CA; Chunky Styls Studios, Los Angeles, CA; NRG Recording Services, North Hollywood, CA; Studio West, San Diego, CA; The Machine Shop, Hoboken, NJ.
Photographer: Andrew MacNaughtan.
Arranger: Steve Thompson .
Unlike many of their rap-metal contemporaries, this California band seems equally as comfortable with the funky, groove-based side of their sound as they do with the raging rock end of the sonic equation. While most of the songs on BLACKOUT do eventually break out into throat-scraping metal vocals and savage guitars, much of the time the musicians are working several sides of a polyrhythm with skill and relative subtlety, making the stylistic transitions all the more dynamically striking. On "Get Away" they even venture into a reggae feel that alternates with grunge-like choruses. There are no attempts at a Staind-like crossover ballad here, but for a change of pace, "The Other Side" does mix loping hip-hop rhythms with acoustic guitar and decidedly melodic vocals in a manner not unlike (gasp) fellow West Coasters Sugar Ray.