Hellbound

Southern rock, as a genre, isn't exactly rife with concept albums, but North Carolina's Automag look to change that by delivering one with their very first try, 2006's Hellbound. Unfortunately, though it reportedly weathered quite a few years on the drawing board, Hellbound's story still required the insertion of helpful plot notes amid its ten songs' lyrics, and, to be perfectly honest, it simply ain't all that entertaining. Rather, its ho-hum tale of two brothers wronged and their search for revenge is neither engaging nor thought-provoking (no Operation: Mindcrime, this), and plays like your typical episode of America's Most Wanted, only backed by an equally anonymous soundtrack. Core tracks like "Alone," "Dead Man Walking," and "Hardcharger" show little imagination and absolutely no surprises; their metallic Southern rock recalling, at best, the post-stoner earthiness of Halfway to Gone or Alabama Thunderpussy, and, at worst, the soulless commercial hard rock of Shinedown or 3 Doors Down. Even worse, and arguably the real cause behind the album's ultimate downfall, is a lifeless, hollow production, which renders all instrumentation — to borrow a suitably Southern phrase — deader than a doornail. What's more, it serves to expose the exceedingly average modern rock voice of frontman the Mighty Quinn, who's echo-laden attempts sound particularly vulnerable on slower numbers like "The Last Time" and "New Southern Outlaw." He fares slightly better on the closing semi-ballad of a title track, where a warmer acoustic backdrop finally overcomes some of the production issues and brings his tone closer to a Hetfield-like growl; but this last gasp comes just a little too late to salvage Automag's blunder of a debut. Hey, at least it's a concept album!