The Nostalgia Factor: Bands That Used To Sound Cool But Are Now Lost In A Sea of Generic Waves (Part 1)

Back in the early days of the new millennium, there were a slew of alternative metal and post grunge bands flooding the air waves, and they all seemed very polished by the mainstream music industry.

Most of these bands are no longer active today, formed different projects, or are struggling to stay relevant. I remember a time when I was a 13 year old, hopped up on caffeine and my buddy got me 12 stones debut album, and Taproot's "Welcome." I was actually excited; thinking about it now, I tend to let out a long sigh.



12 Stones did enjoy a good amount of mainstream success. The band's front man is mainly famous for being that dude with red hair from Evanscence's Bring Me To Life video. I know a lot of people heard the song on the Daredevil soundtrack. But I remember hearing that song for the first time, when it was picked up by WWE for their 2003 No Mercy pay-per-view. And remember saying to myself "that dude sounds extremely familiar." I check out the video and bam! it's Paul McCoy.

Sadly, since then, Paul and 12 stones have failed to successfully break any new barriers for the band's career. A few years later, Paul started wearing cowboy shirts. The end.





TRUSTcompany Had potential in terms of being an alternative metal band, and did in fact enjoy some mainstream spotlight. The band was going to be a part of the 2003 installment of Ozzfest, but instead their label forced them to drop off the tour, and head into the studio to release a follow up album to their debut.

Their debut album "The Lonely Position of Neutral," enjoyed a moderate level of success, a couple of songs found their way into my head, and onto my play list for a while. "Downfall" was the band's hit single, and "Falling Apart" was a very catchy song.

The band split up back in 2007 and reunited earlier this year, and are about to release a new record titled "Dreaming In Black and White." Out February 8th, 2011. They'll also be going on a mini US tour in the end of the year, to promote their new single "Heart In My Hands."





Taproot. One of the first things that come to mind when I think of Taproot, is how many times I ended up on this site, instead of theirs.

Earlier this year (2010), Taproot attempted to make a come back, which was ultimately very awkward. Back in 2002, Taproot released their most successful album, "Welcome." To this day, it's still the most relevant material they managed to release without hitting the generic alarm button frantically. "Welcome," had a few good songs on it, "Poem" being the album's hit single, and the band's most successful one to date.





Blindside. The pissed off post-hardcore band from Stockholm, Sweden. Man these guys were fuckin awesome. They had this "Fuck You/Rock N' Roll" attitude that just made their songs stand out greatly, not to mention their aggressive yet very memorable hooks. The band was also featured in P.O.D.'s video for the hit single "Boom," as "the blue team."

I would actually be very psyched if these guys decided to release another record. Back in 2009 they announced plans for a new record, aiming for a 2010 release. But since September 09, no updates have been made available.





FLAW. I found out about FLAW a couple of years later (2004). The band had some catchy songs, while the structures are mostly always very repetitive, and formulaic. FLAW did manage to gain some minor mainstream success, when they were featured on The Scorpion King OST with the song "Only The Strong."

In 2009 FLAW self-released a new record titled "Home Grown Studio Sessions." Only 3000 hard copies were produced, and the album is considered a "limited edition" release, if you may.