Metal Underground.com

Those looking for angry, growly mid-tempo metal in the Godsmack mode are going to find plenty to love on Metasoma's "Metal Erosion." This UK band doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel with this EP, but there's definitely some skills at work here.

Things get off to a grinding start on "Rast-A-Peace," in which singer Amro delivers the goods in everything from a growl to a falsetto — even including a quick death metal-style scream. Michael Sedzielewski and Voytek Golbiak's thick guitar tones just add to the heavy vibe.

The disc's best track is "Older," which has an effective fist-pumper of a chorus, even if the vocals start off flirting with Limp Bizkit territory. Its weakest is the comparatively mild "Lost My Way," which sometimes feels as if Amro is trying to channel Scott Weiland.

"I Am Me" features Golbiak's best guitar solo, and a chorus that wouldn't be out of place on a Disturbed album. Meanwhile, drummer Vaughn Houseman flirts with a "St. Anger" snare sound on the title track, "Metal Erosion" — and it actually works.

The production is good, although sometimes Lewis Powell's bass gets loss among the thick guitar tones. Another quibble would be that there's not a lot of variety here, with portions of "Metal Erosion" feeling like you could cut and paste them into "Older" without anyone noticing.

Still, Metasoma's got plenty of anger and attitude on "Metal Erosion," and that counts for a lot. Here's hoping that when the band gets around to a full-length disc, there's a little more variety.