Metal Underground.com

"Truth Rising," by rap-rockers (hed)P.E. shows off the truth in the maxim that just because you can do a bunch of things, it doesn't follow that you can do them all at once — at least not well. Mixing Rage Against the Machine rap-rock-with-a-message, Motorhead-speed punk and 2 Live Crew-style rhymes, the album basically throws way too many balls in the air for the band to catch.

I have to give credit where credit is due. The first 10 minutes or so of the album mix punk rock with angry, nu-metal-style rapping from Jared Gomes and industrial-style creepy samples about conspiracies to incredible effect. The single, "No Rest For The Wicked" and the next track, "This Fire" both have some great riffing, courtesy of guitarist Jaxon Benge.

With "Takeover," the full-on rap track in which Gomes lets us know he's "got the power to make your pussy flower," it all starts to fall apart. Jared Gomes seems to think he can be both Zach de la Rocha and Luther Campbell (or at least Fred Durst), but it just doesn't work. Any sense that this band has anything of importance to say is wiped out by the silliness of tracks like "Takeover," "Deepthroat" (in which a sex therapist discusses how to go down on a well-endowed man) and the followup "Murder," featuring a female vocalist begging for sex.

As the album continues, it regains some of its oomph, and the President Obama-sampling finale, "It's Alright" has Benge, Gomes and crew successfully blending reggae and punk. Still, the intermittent silliness has wrecked the message's credibility.

With a tighter approach, emphasizing the serious message of tracks like "It's Alright," "No Rest For The Wicked" and "Whitehouse," (hed)P.E. could have created a much better album. Unfortunately, sex-humor silliness pervades too much of "Truth Rising" to make it one to recommend to anyone other than fans of the band.