Five years after their last album, sole founding member Hugo Ferreira and a new group of musicians have returned with a nine track, 31-minute album. They were playing a festival I visited recently, on the same bill as Lamb Of God, Puddle Of Mudd, and others. By the time we got there, Tantric had already played, at something like 1:30 in the afternoon. That’s probably a sign that it’s time for a band to go the way of the dodo.

If you liked Tantric in 2001 with their hit “Breakdown” and their grunge lite sound, then you probably won’t like this. Hugo and his latest lineup have turned up the volume for a sound that doesn’t match their feeling and a level of aggression that comes across very poorly. The grunge attack of “Angry” just falls flat and feels forced and uninspired.

Having not listened to anything Tantric has done since at least 2004, when I was in high school, I can’t say I’m very impressed with this. The acoustic, lightweight but midtempo approach they had done successfully has just been beaten down into the ground and now they’ve gone into a completely opposite direction. “Get ‘Em All” isn’t a bad song, but one out of nine isn’t a great thing to have on your record, just saying. Hugo’s vocals aren’t especially that graceful or soulful anymore. The worst example of this is “Before You Could Crawl,” which sounds very weak and flat – it’s not at all he used to be capable of. The damn fool even attempts to rap and curse on “Lie Awake.” It’s laughable and sad!

The attempt at a power ballad with “My Forever” falls flat and doesn’t recover. It feels like a combination of Staind and Evanescence songs from 2003 with really crappy vocals. I understand some of these bands keep going because they can make enough money on the road to support themselves, but others need to retire their names and stop ruining what could be left of their legacies. One need go no further than “Lie Awake” and “Wannabe” to realize that the world doesn’t need Tantric any more.

Rating: F

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