RockRoast

Trapt, the alternative metal band best known for their song “Headstrong” from a few years back, seems very close to announcing their third album. 

Trapt hit it big with their platinum eponymous debut in 2002, fueled by the success of “Headstrong.”  2005’s Someone in Control failed to sell quite as well, although it did go gold.  Now its long-awaited follow-up is nearing completion. 

Yesterday’s blog post on Trapt’s official MySpace page made a few new songs available for hardcore fans on Fancorps.com. The same post also promised that “There are MANY changes a coming.” The next few days should hopefully give Trapt fans the information they’ve been looking forward to. I would like to know if lead guitarist Simon Ormandy really has left the band or not.

But the new album, Only Through the Pain, could be an important moment in Trapt’s history. It could be the beginning of the end or it could be a turning point. If Trapt has recorded an album too much in the same vein as their previous two, their popularity could continue to wane, leaving them to put out record after record to less and less fanfare and increasingly disappointing sales. Five years from now, they’ll be a one-hit-wonder. Or they could change their approach a little bit, write something a bit more challenging to their sound, and possibly recapture the success of their debut. Five years from now, they’ll still be popular and successful.

I’m hoping for the second option. Trapt is a great band that, in my opinion, shows a lot of promise. Hopefully their time in the studio will yeild something fresh and exciting. Few things are more disappointing than a great band that refuses to live up to its potential. (I’m looking at you, Audioslave.)

Only Through the Pain is estimated to be released sometime this summer. I’ll let you know when I hear something more specific.

It’s been a busy year for Porcupine Tree.

Since the April 2007 release of Fear of a Blank Planet, the band have put out a followup mini-album in September (Nil Recurring) and, as of last week, have made a new live disc available.

We Lost the Skyline is a live release of an acoustic set performed in an Orlando, Florida music store. The tracklisting promises some of the band’s most beautiful mellow tracks, including “Even Less,” “Trains,” and “Lazarus.” “Lazarus” is currently available on Porcupine Tree’s official MySpace page, and it’s an excellent live arrangement of a fantastic song.

In my opinion, despite its release during a year which boasted a large number of great records, Fear of a Blank Planet emerged as the best album of 2007.  (For a periodically updated list of albums emerging as the best of 2008, click here.)  It’s filled with ambient soundscapes fused with progressive rock and a healthy dose of metal and the band manage to reconcile these different genres very well, offering something to fans of any kind of rock music. If you haven’t already done so, I’d strongly suggest buying Fear of a Blank Planet, Nil Recurring, and We Lost the Skyline. You won’t regret it.

They are all available at Porcupine Tree’s official online store.

I have only just recently become aware that Dominici is planning to release their third studio album pretty soon.

From the bits and pieces I’ve been able to scrounge up about this act, it seems clear to me that this next release will be worth buying. They seem to be mainly a metal band with a healthy progressive edge, but with the rare ability to sidestep the usual prog trappings of bombast and cheesiness. While the concept of the O3 trilogy may have the proggish problem of being a bit overdramatic, what I’ve heard follows in the tradition of “Operation: Mindcrime” in that the lyrical drama is matched well enough by the music to make it work.

And those who may be familiar with frontman Charlie Dominici’s previous work with Dream Theater will be happy to know that his voice blends well with the prog-metal sound of his new band. The production is up to snuff, so there are no strained, fading “Killing Hand” moments. All in all, I’m excited about this. I might have to start amending my Top Ten Albums of 2008 sooner than I expected.

Dominici’s “O3: A Trilogy, Part 3″ is scheduled for release on April 22 by InsideOut.