Stone Sour
House of Gold & Bones, Part 1

THE REVIEW

Even though this is not a "fresh" album, I still decided to review it: firstly because no one on DeBaser has done it before and secondly because I couldn't let such a work pass by without saying my piece.
"House of Gold & Bones pt.1" is the first of two albums (pt. 2 coming soon) by Stone Sour, who are NOT the dull and uninspired copy of Slipknot; in fact, they sometimes present sound nuances that are even more interesting than the "cousin" band. The album was produced by David Bottrill (three-time Grammy winner) and distributed by Roadrunner Records; it was released in Europe on October 22, 2012 (the following day in the USA); the recording of the tracks took place between Iowa and Ontario.
A superior work compared to the good previous ones, which, however, lacked that extra touch that can be grasped here: truly remarkable is the balance between melodic parts ("Tired," "Taciturn"), enriched by elegant strings, and heavy tracks ("RU486," "My Name Is Allen") that sometimes very vaguely recall the sounds of the fanfare (there are 9 of them as you well know!) of Taylor and Root (here, let me say, viscerally hated!).
Don't feel like listening to the album because the Maggots rash is already overwhelming you? To get an idea, just listen to "Absolute Zero" and you won't be disappointed!
Applause to the mixing that highlights the bass well (entrusted here to the talented multi-instrumentalist Rachel Bolan).
Ah... I almost forgot... after the two "House of Gold & Bones," the bearded lead guitarist James will be, very discreetly, kicked out of Stone Sour. What a pity...