Maximum Metal Rating Legend

286 comes straight out of Cali, but their sound is more Bayou country, crawfish party with their rusty guitar licks and booze-soaked imagery. Their 2005 Ep "Profiled" showed a lot of promise for the swampy, roots-rock sound, but where one could argue that consistency is usually the cohesion that holds together 10-song CDs, too many of 286 songs are hampered by reoccurring riff patterns where each sounds like the last which sounds like the last and throwing in a some retro, steel guitar touches just isn't enough differentiation over the course.

Adam Joad's vocals are rock standard, yet hanging in the dangerous area of punk slurring which doesn't tend to be favorable with your average rock/metal fan, but he does give off enough presence to be the aural centerpiece of the band. As the music plays, he retains the frontman focus over the instumentation and holds your attention.

A half dozen similar songs stand up for an EP, but for a full-length CD it leads to listener drift and the bonfire these guys are cultivating dies down. The production and packaging are well-done and their website is as tightly designed as any major band, but a few more party crashers would liven up this CD invite.

The bottom line is a little more song spicing would make this one tastier.