After releasing what was arguably the best album of 2012, STONE SOUR is back with Part 2 of what they started on "House Of Gold and Bones Part 1". What you have here is a two part concept album of the highest degree. This is Corey Taylor laid bare and letting his soul bleed out into the songs.

The album opens with "Red City". It finds Corey singing to a piano lead before the guitars kick into an almost David Gilmour inspired guitar backing. Taylor lays his soul out until the song explodes into a full on assault about half way through. This song is beauty and rage together in one song. "Black John" starts with an almost ZZ TOP sounding guitar riff. Taylor adds more of his trademark mind bending lyrics here.

"Sadist" finds Taylor singing "This all the pain a man can take/This is how a broken heart still breaks" while the tune swirls around with a combination of acoustic guitars, powerful bass, and some dead on drumming. One more example of why Taylor is one of the most powerful lyricists in Rock music.

This CD is not an immediate album like Part 1 was. It takes time to truly sink in. The lyrical content and complexity of the song structures are very intense here. You can absolutely hear the SLIPKNOT style here but also I hear a lot of PINK FLOYD influence here. This is a perfect way to close out Part 1. "Blue Smoke" especially reminds me of something from the "Division Bell" CD by PINK FLOYD. It's my favorite song on the CD and a perfect example of the diversity contained here. It's the lead-in for the first single, "Do Me A Favor" where Corey reminds us of the impending doom we face as a planet with the lyrics, "The matter at hand is a matter of time A sad little kid with broken toys Your dogmatic license has kept you inside What will you do when you're burning alive?"

While not all of the tunes are perfect and there are a couple sleepers here, there are some absolutely stunning songs here. It gets stronger as it goes along. The lyrics are second to none and bottom line, some of the best I've ever heard.

To me personally, I consider these albums to be STONE SOUR's "Night At The Opera" or "Dark Side Of The Moon." I say that in the sense of the fact that these are sweeping, epic albums full of classic tunes that get better with each listen. I truly believe that 25 years from now, people will be talking about these albums in much the same sense.

If you do not already own both of the "House Of Gold and Bone" albums, I urge you to get them now. This is among the best that you are going to hear this year or any other.