The Aussie masters of Nu-Metal celebrate 25 years at the forefront of heavy music in the Australian music industry. 3 ARIA nominations, 3 top 20 albums, 6 top 40 hits, over 100,000 sales and a fiercely loyal fan base makes SUPERHEIST a continued force to be reckoned with in 2019. Fronted by the mercurial Ezekiel Ox and led by ARIA nominated producer, founder and guitar player DW Norton, the  band is completed by internationally renowned Metal master-skinsman John Sankey (DEVIL YOU KNOW) on drums, extreme Metal stalwart Simon Durrant (IN:EXTREMIS) on bass and American import Keir Gotcher (POLTRONA/SNOT) on guitar. After a split in 2003, 2019 brings the band's newest offering, "Sidewinder".  Let us see if the band still has the chops to make it after 16 years.

"The Riot" starts off the album with a Nu-metal sound almost like KORN but the vocals give more a HED(P.E.) flavor. The heavy sound emulates through the song, but the clean vocals of the chorus take the song in too much of a different direction. It is like two magnets pushing against each other. "Overlord" is the third track from the album and it holds a much better sound than the first two songs. It finds the creative flow beginning to mix a lot better than the first two songs. The clean vocals really flow with the music in this one. The music itself is a mix of a heavy Nu-metal sound but sounds like an 80's type ballad. You really wouldn't think the two styles would mix, but they really do.

"Breathe" is the mid-point of the album. It again brings that HED(P.E.) sound into the mix. The intro and verse are filled by piano and electronic drums that are soft and filled by rapping vocals. The chorus itself, is the polar opposite. The guitars and drums throw down hard and bring out an angst in the vocals. The song is the best so far on the album. "And So We Burn" is the seventh song on the album. It begins with some electronic sounds and clean vocals of the title. About a minute in and I am waiting for the hard sounds of the band. They do not come. The same intro I thought to be just that, an intro, turns into the entire song. It sounds so much like those old 80's songs with the keys taking over the entire song. Guitars become a missing sound as well as the drums. This is where I was hoping the album would really let loose with some heavy sounds.

I skip to the last song of the album, "God Knows".  Here, after another slow intro, the band decides to throw out some heavy sounds. The vocals turn to growls and screams, while the drums throw that fast double. The transition takes the vocals to rap on one verse but the song seems more of a jumbled mess that anything. The song just doesn't work for me. They take too much of their influence and throw it in together and mixed it on high. The flavor just doesn't work on this one.

"Sidewinder" is a decent album, but I just cannot seem to grab the flow of the album. It goes from one side of the spectrum to the other in a matter of minutes. Even though the music itself is fairly good, the vocals do not seem to harmonize with the melodies very well in most of the songs. I am sure fans of the band will disagree, and I understand that opinions are not facts. This album is a huge pass for me.