by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Cold's eponymous debut is a set of ugly, harsh post-alternative metal in the vein of Korn. The group concentrates on brutal, bleak riffing, instead of tight songwriting -- it's an album about texture, where the hard-hitting, post-thrash rhythms and the group's vaguely nihlistic undertone combine to form a scary, provocative succession of sound. Cold's songwriting isn't always great and they're too concerned with adolscent angst and horror ("Everyone Dies," "Insane," "Serial Killer," etc.), but the band's sound is fully formed, resutling in a strong debut.