Cold took a six-year break after the release of 2005’s
A Different Kind of Pain but they did not use the half-decade hiatus as an opportunity to rethink their musical outlook. They may be a little older and a little slower, two elements that combine on the power ballad “American Dream,” which sounds disarmingly similar to
DAUGHTRY, but
Cold remain faithful to their post-grunge alt-metal legacy on
Superfiction. After the bluster of the opening “Wicked World” fades away,
Superfiction settles into a deliberate churn, with neither the music nor the message rising above a simmer. It’s an album to wallow in, provided that you share some sensibilities with
Scooter Ward, who is maturing slightly -- it’s evident in his topics and tempos -- yet he's still compelled to filter all his emotions through the same dour metallic strain of his adolescence, a habit that keeps
Superfiction in line with
Cold’s previous albums yet seals it away from any potential new listeners. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine