Spoken

It won't take long for listeners of Spoken's sixth studio album to be reminded of how hard and fast the band can rock. The three songs that open the album: "History Erased," "Close Your Eyes" and "Not Soon Forgotten," start things off with nine minutes of blazing fast guitar riffs and loud and quick-rising vocals, all bounded by a full-sounding rhythm section. From there the self-titled record diversifies from all-out metal with the mid-tempo rockers and ballads that fans have come to know and love. After two albums for Tooth and Nail where the band explored has more anthemic avenues, the quintet found itself re-examining its hard rock and metal roots on its third record for the label. The resulting album is an 11-song sonic attack that knows when to slow down the pace and when to pounce back like a slap to the face. "We didn't intentionally go for a heavier sound," guitarist Jef Cunnigham said. "We just wrote what came to mind and I think it turned into some of our best material."