Emil Bills - XX

German numetallers have shown their poppy side for their "candlelight" version of their greatest cuts.To celebrate their 20th year, German alt-metal band Emil Bulls has re-recorded new, or "candlelight", versions of their most popular songs for their latest release, XX. This is where, if only in the interest of intellectual honesty, I have to say this is some impressive stuff. It's easy to dismiss most a lot of nu metal and the like as angry guitar bashing and screaming about trite topics that everyone agrees are the bane of modern life. But to go back and re-arrange those songs into nuanced poppy anthems if a musical feat.

Tunes like Here Comes The Fire get polished to a mirror finish that would seem totally at home on a pop diva's next release. Sure, there's a bit of a disconnect between the mellow feel of the music and the incindiary lyrics.], but to turn your own work on its head, in a genre that is often maligned for its lack of innovation or depth, belies a certain self-awareness that puts the material a cut above the din. Not too shabby.

The Bottom Line: Fans of nu metal's Emil Bulls may have their minds blown when they hear the band's prime cuts transmogrified into tasty pop morsels - for better or for worse, you be the judge. But the mere fact of pulling it off this well should impress you as a music fan nonethless.

- Genghis was tapping his toes a bit to some of this stuff (is that allowed?)...