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As the first few seconds of the album begin to decimate your stereo, it is clearly evident that Droid are not robots.  They play with the force and power that only come with the human emotions of anger and hatred, and the brutal honesty to let it all show.  Their self-titled debut is a brutal mix of death and thrash that has me pretty impressed.  Knowing that they are on a label created by Korn guitarist, and touring on the Family Values Tour with mediocre metalcore bands such as Atreyu and Trivium, I did not expect a fantastic metal album from this band out of Long Beach, California.  Yet they are poised to obliterate these lesser bands with a brutal sound that will bring to mind the best of the American metal scene.

And obliterate they do.  Incessant drumming with double bass pedals forms the backbone of the band, from which the beatings commence.  The jarring blastbeats and tight bass rhythm will knock you to the ground.  The drums and bass work as a very tight unit which does really well to support the guitars and vocals.  While you are still on the floor, guitarists Bruce Child and Jamie Teissere will proceed to flay you with explosive hooks and crunchy riffs that mesh for a very powerful, ear assaulting sound.  The vocals are a blend of shouts and death growls that are pretty discernible, which is always a plus with death metal bands. 

When you have this much going on in a loud, heavy death metal band, one of two problems can arise.  If the album is not well produced, then it can sound like a cacophony of noise that doesn't capture the nuances of the album.  On the other hand, when an album is over-produced, you are left with something along the lines of an Atreyu, where the sound feels too clean and disturbingly close to a pop album.  Droid avoids both of these problems with expert production that catches the subtleties but manages to leave a gritty feel.  Fueled by Hate, The Resurrection and The God of Anger can testify to the quality of Droid's sound.

Ultimately this is a solid metal album that will remind listeners of Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, and more obscure bands in the same realm.  They play it safe and stick to the staples of the genre, but they do it well.  I think they are probably getting overlooked by the Family Values crowd, as they don't really belong in their midst.  What Droid needs to do is take everything they are doing right and push it to the limit.  They are on the verge of bowling over their contemporaries, and all they need now is the momentum to push them over the edge.