Album Review: Hurt - Vol. 1 (2006) B-

Sounds Like: Tool, Staind

The debut album from the mysterious band Hurt is hard to categorize. The only way I can think to describe it is to take a Tool record and remove all the more whacked-out progressive parts.

What you end up with is a haunting album with slithering melodies and quietly smoldering vocals. First single "Rapture" is a great song, but the remainder of the album doesn't do much to distinguish itself. Tracks flow from one to the other without too much variety. There are some vaguely Christian overtones. Just look at the song titles, "House Carpenter," the aforementioned "Rapture," etc.

Oh, and strangely enough, I have no idea what these guys look like. The video for "Rapture" is animated, and there are no photos in the album's liner notes.

That said, this is decent background-music type stuff. It's not outstanding, but it's piqued my curiousity.