Wackmobil is a band from Hilversum, the Netherlands; since that is roughly the area I live in I saw them perform quite some times when they just started out. I have some good memories about that time, as I remember them playing a nice set of nu-metal at a villa of a friend of mine. I lost track of them eventually, but was happily surprised when I took notice of From Grudge to Mutiny.

 

The first thing that I noticed was the mature sound that they’ve developed; they definitely superseded the level of another nu-metal band and so they should have, because is that genre still alive anyway? The CD kicks of with ‘Try Smiling’ where we hear a very nice grooving relaxing riff; when the clean high voice of Ruben accompanies it, the band already can’t do anything wrong anymore, beautiful! He sounds even better than Brandon from Incubus, because he has a more distinct voice. Add some of the dramatic influences of Deftones’ sound and you have a pretty good idea of what Wackmobil is about.

 

Another major influence is without a doubt Korn. This is where I have to get back on my “they can’t do anything wrong anymore”-line, because really every song contains a typical, low tuned Korn riff, which is a bit lame and outdated. The opening riff of ‘Asphalt & Gasoline’ could have come straight from the Korn album. On the other side it gives me a nice nostalgic feeling and fact is that it simply rocks.

 

Only very sporadically some grunts and double bass pass by, which isn’t their great strength. Their strength is the ability to keep the attention the entire album long, with every song having an own face and hook which is easy to get into and to remember. This catchiness is definitely a big plus for this band. If you like the bands I mentioned above, you should really check out this release!