Candiria

Kudos to the members of this Brooklyn hardcore-jazz-tech-metal-hip-hop-spazz-out hybrid for coming back for more after a head-on collision with an 18-wheeler. The aftermath of the crash, which caused critical injuries for some of the band members, is documented on the album cover with photos of the band's demolished van. It may seem like a cheap ploy for sympathy (or macho chest-beating), but the band cops to neither. Instead, the experience has made Candiria introspective. Faced with the bleak possibility that everything is meaningless after all, the band screams, "We are here!" into the void. Never short on screaming, Candiria has always outdone passion with cerebral technicality, but What Doesn't Kill You ... marks a relative simplification of the band's sound. Fans may take issue with the album's pedestrian nü-metal touches (courtesy of producer David Bendeth), but it's really just the result of a band that has explored harshness and technicality to their logical conclusions. Besides, no amount of straightforward melody can rob this band of its ability to keep listeners scratching their heads.