March 19, 2002 - Five Pointe O and Untitled

Two weeks after my last release a new band briefly joins my library when Five Pointe O released their debut (and only) album "Untitled" on March 19, 2002. But who are Five Pointe O? They are a six-piece nu-metal band from Joliet, Illinois consisting of lead singer Daniel Struble, guitarists Eric Wood and Sharon Grzelinski, bassist Sean Pavey, drummer Tony Starcevich and keyboardist Casey Mejia. Five Pointe O are definitely nu-metal with a heavy sound and vocals that range from singing, rapping and screaming. Let's see what Five Pointe O are all about!

The album begins with it's only single "Double X Minus" and it's got some nice chugging guitars and some solid bass as well driving things along. Struble sings for the most part in a solid high voice, but he does let out some pretty sweet screams every now and then that make things sound super heavy and cool. I can see why this was a single as it's pretty catchy for such a heavy song and these guys fit right in with other nu-metal bands of the time. A pretty good way to kick things off I thought! Up next is "King Of The Hill" and the two guitarists play off each other nicely for a cool back-and-forth main riff and Struble once again mixes in some great screams among his singing verse. He even has a couple low growls on this one and he seems to be quite the solid metal vocalist! The chorus is much more radio-friendly with some smooth singing and simpler guitars, but the verse sounds pretty sweet! After another round Struble screams a cool new part, then raps a solid faster part before they close things out with a final chorus. Another cool tune! Track 3 is "Art Of Cope" and it's got a catchy headbanger of a main riff that flows really nicely and Struble sings a nice verse to match the mood. The chorus riff is simple but heavy and Struble screams most of the chorus overtop for a cool contrast and he sounds great holding some long screams. They move back-and-forth between catchy singing parts and great heavier parts including a really nice scream to end the song. The hits just keep rolling and the next track is "Purity 01" and it's got a really cool drum beat to keep the pace while Struble raps a long verse that reminds me of Rage Against the Machine. Then he breaks out a superb low growl to set the stage for a high screaming chorus and things sound splendidly, headbangingly awesome. This is probably my favourite song so far, and the rest were all pretty good! This one is just so heavy and sweet! Track 5 is "Freedom?" and they build things up with a pretty catchy and cool verse that ramps nicely into the heavy chorus with Struble mixing his singing and screaming wonderfully. Eventually things start to break down and they do a nice slowing down of things to a crawl, and then finally a stop. Up next is "Sympathetic Climate Control" and it's the first song to have a much slower pace at first with an almost dreamy guitar and some trippy keyboards in the background. Struble sings a slow verse overtop and things get heavier in the chorus, but it's still very tame compared to everything else so far. After another slow round Struble screams a pretty sweet new part, then mixes in some singing to nicely bring it back to the main riff. Track 7 is the title track "Untitled" and Struble instantly starts shrieking in a really high scream that I think sounds great! This overtop a fast-paced and heavy main riff is very unrelenting and really fucking heavy! Struble switches to some nice low screams to set the stage for the chorus, and then proceeds to sing a solid chorus overtop a pretty catchy guitar riff. After another wonderful round they slow things down for a nice heavy Breakdown with some nice long  low screams, then they return to the spitfire main riff to nicely finish things off. Easily my favourite song on the album! Non-stop heaviness the whole way through! The next track is "Syndrome Down" and Struble starts us off with some really sweet growling that sounds super heavy, and it's overtop a pretty groovy and cool main riff. The chorus is much simpler and kinda takes the energy out of things, but the rest of the song is pretty cool, including a nice heavy finish. Track 9 is "Breathe Machine" and they kick right into a fast, catchy and cool main riff with Struble rapping quickly along and things sound solid. The chorus has some pretty wicked guitar and a good mix of singing and screaming from Struble. Struble screams a phenomenal new part midway through that words don't do proper justice to; he sounds so good! This whole song is only 2:46, but they pack in lots of good stuff into it! Up next is "The Infinity" and it's got a really slow pace and a very trippy opening with some soft guitar and some cool psychedelic keyboards. Eventually they snap into a pretty cool and more typical main riff as Struble continues to nicely mix his singing and screaming, screaming at all the perfect moments to add a dash of heaviness to things. The chorus is a great slow headbang with some nice low screams and then Mejia plays a cool little piano part before they start up the next verse. After another slow round they decide to end it there and I thought they did this slower pace really well with another well above average song. The final song on the album is "Aspire, Inspire" and it's by far the longest on the album at just under twelve minutes (no other song was longer than five and a half). It starts off very slow with a trippy guitar riff keeping the pace that everyone else starts to build around. The other guitarist adds some trippy effects, we have a nice light drum beat, and some droning keyboards as they start off this incredibly slow ramping up process. After about three minutes the drums pick up to a nice newer beat and we still seem like we're building up to something. It's not bad, but it's not really exciting either and it's a far cry from all the great metal that preceded it. After about seven minutes things seem to die off with no pay off, but then they suddenly slam into a slow but more typical main riff with some heavy and catchy guitars and Struble singing in a really high voice overtop. They move into a heavy but repetitive chorus and jam it out for a good while until the song appears to end a second time, only for it to return to the same trippy riff as before to close things out.

That is the end of "Untitled" and I thought it was a pretty freaking sweet album! These guys (and gal) are full of heavy, catchy music and Daniel Struble is one hell of a vocalist! It's absolutely unjust then, that this would be the only album Five Pointe O would ever release. What a shame! They are so sweet!