Dead By Sunrise

The debut from Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington's side project is a slight departure from the hip-hop-touched radio metal of his day job. With that band's pronounced Nirvana influence even more evident here, Out of Ashes manages to remain accessible to the legions of Linkin Park fans while allowing Bennington to explore the grunge moves he loves without feeling the need for a rapped vocal or drum sample. During the best songs ("Crawl Back In," "Inside of Me"), the result is an organic, commercially viable revisit of Stone Temple Pilots' Tiny Music.

This side project by Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington is a grim affair, with
hackneyed post-grunge arrangements propping up pity-poor-me sentiments telegraphed in
song titles like "My Suffering" and "Crawl Back In" ("Sometimes I cry/Sometimes I feel like I
want to die," Bennington wails). Ashes is slightly redeemed by ballads like "In the
Darkness," which bears a resemblance to the winning emo turn Linkin Park took... More >