Canada’s contribution to modern music has been equal parts awesome and atrocious. In the first category we can start with prog greats Rush, who have been kicking out the nerdy, cerebral jams with the same three dudes for 35 years. Exhibit B is Cryptopsy, a death metal band who single- handedly revitalized the genre after its disastrous mid-90s major label experiment with their 1996 blasterpiece, None So Vile. A steady stream of tech death, melodeath and regular ol’ death bands have been invading from the Montreal scene on a seemingly weekly basis ever since.
The second category can be summed up with Celine Dion, whose flowery ballads have been the soundtrack to countless root canals from the ceiling speakers of dentist offices for the past dozen years or so.
What The Great White North hasn’t yet delivered is a perfectly passable, middle of the road radio rock band. (And if you’re thinking, “You forgot Nickelback!” please stop listening to music.) For those looking to fill this void, Montreal’s Special Ops accomplish this, er, mission, with their third record, Through the Heart of the Infidel.
Now, Special Ops are by no means unique or innovative. That being said, there are some solid ideas in this album’s half hour runtime, you just have to know where to look.
Through the Heart of the Infidel starts with a decent one-two punch in the form of the thumping bass/snare attack of “HM” and “Snake Bite”’s alt metal power chord leads. Unfortunately, the latter track is marred by the band’s most unpredictable element, vocalist Abe Forman. One minute dude is channeling his inner Sully Erna (the driving, crunchy “Hard-Ass”) and the next he’s linking contrived rhyme schemes and dropping Korn-y “raps” (the painful post grunge of “The Monster In Me” and “Anthem of Deceit,” respectively).
The quartet finds a happy medium on the uplifting, P.O.D.-esque single, “Pressure.” It’s rare when the big track on a record is my favorite, but this one actually displays all of Special Ops’ strengths. A building snare roll breaks into an upbeat verse with a huge, riffy payoff for the refrain, even leaving room for a cool spoken word breakdown where Froman’s raps are tolerable and fit the quasi-spiritual feel of the song.
“Amber” is another highlight, its melodic bass intro setting it apart from the other songs while its faster chorus pushes the album’s BPM and adds a little complexity with a nice, emotive solo. Hell, almost half the tracks on this disc have decent lead playing, something mainstream rock is thankfully reintegrating into its sound.
Honestly, if more songs on rock radio sounded like the two previously mentioned tracks, I wouldn’t dislike the medium so much. And if these guys cut back on the sappy power ballads and nu metal leanings and made with the bouncy hard rock tunes more often, this would be more than a passable record.
2 out of 5 guns.
If you liked Special Ops, check out: Godsmack, P.O.D., Three Days Grace
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