The Autumn Effect (CD - 2005)

Additional personnel: Michael Harrison , Ruth Brugger-Johnson (violin); Novi Novog (viola); Nancy Stein-Ross (cello); Rick Bemis (double bass).

The Autumn Effect opens with "Waking Up," a surgically perfect union of Tool and Incubus. 10 Years vocalist Jesse Hasek wails with the earnestness of Brandon Boyd, but also draws from the persistent tension in Maynard James Keenan's delivery. Musically, 10 Years' songs do much the same thing. They feature echoey, dripping-water guitar lines that splash into giant choruses, combining the arty darkness of Tool or Deftones with post-grunge's need for a big melodic payoff. "Cast It Out" is a great example of this, as is "Half Life." Staind and Static-X producer Josh Abraham gives Autumn Effect a serviceably crisp sound, and 10 years is enamored enough of their big payoff choruses to focus more on them than the mental darkness permeating the verses. "Through the Iris" is another highlight; the band also gets ambitious with the closing title track, which clocks in at nearly ten minutes and implodes into a primordial ooze of proto-Coil gloom. But Autumn Effect could really use more of that adventurism, more ideas that challenge the alt metal/post-grunge status quo instead of fitting so ably within it. It's one thing to sound as awesome as your heroes; it's another to take what they've done further. There's promise in 10 Years playing. But in the meantime, there are lyrics like "Precious gift embedded deep within your skin/But parasitic pleasures are closer than kin" and "New grains of time will not rewind." The lines are poetic in their torment, but they're still pretty typical for alt metal, and that commonness is what ultimately saps The Autumn Effect. ~ Johnny Loftus

The well-crafted, progressive alt-metal on 10 Years' 2005 debut THE AUTUMN EFFECT proves they are one of the more promising bands on the scene. With the dramatic, tightly wound vocals of Jesse Hasek leading the way, 10 Years draw on influences like Tool and the Deftones in structure and mood, yet do not shy away from commercially viable melodies. Brooding atmospheres, plus lyrics that explore the darker corridors of human feeling, keep 10 Years firmly in the "dark rock" category, but their engaging craft and penchant for anthemic choruses indicate that they are equally ready for radio. minimize