Phoenix’s own Digital Summer are about to release their much anticipated follow up to 2006′s Cause and Effect titled Counting The Hours. After countless plays on stations all across the land, as well as touring the country with acts like Sevendust and Drowning Pool, they are primed and ready to explode. Question is, will these Arizona natives grab me from the first note, or will the robust tracklisting have me “counting the minutes” until the album is over?

Blasting through the speakers comes the album’s title track. First things first, Digital Summer’s sound can only be described as one thing: monstrous! The colossal, super-melodic six strings come crashing down as the beautiful landscape unfolds around you. Vocalist Kyle Winterstein is an absolutely amazing vocalist – there’s no two ways about it. He has this Aaron Lewis thing going on (just without the whiny “I’m a millionaire who hates life and wants to off myself” feel). Speaking of Staind’s frontman, Digital Summer’s sound, at times, borrows heavily from the Massachusetts powerhouse. They also add subtle touches of bands like Sevendust and Cold, all the while bringing their own style to the table as well. With the track’s huge chorus, it should be destroying radio stations all over the globe soon enough.

Take tracks like “Hostage” and “Playing The Saint” are real attention grabbers. If you were to put “Hostage” on and tell someone that it was the new Staind single, most people would totally buy that. Musically, the band delivers a huge rock sound that is very infectious and extremely enduring. During the verses Winterstein’s voice is almost a dead ringer for Lewis, but he adds elements into the chorus to really separate himself. “Playing The Saint” has a great bounce and captures Sevendust’s punchy style to a tee. As a matter of fact, it even features their very own skinsman Morgan Rose on guest vocals. The guitars are ripping and in-your-face, while the double bass blasts in the background. Rose adds his patented screams behind Winterstien’s melody driven arrangements.

One thing that was kind of strange to me, though, was the song “Morphine.” I know that producers like to dummy down the guitars for “radio ballads” a lot of times, but with this track it’s done a little too much. It’s still a fantastic track that features killer harmonies reminiscent of Nickelback, which is kind of cool. But, like I said before, the guitars during the chorus are muffled and seem to almost disappear into the vastness of the song. Still worth a listen, but with a record that is this guitar driven, why dummy them down so much on just one track?

“Today” is another really cool standout track for me. “Guido” Hernadez and Ben Anderson play a funky bass and drum combo over guitarists Ian Winterstein’s and “Fish” Cenfield’s spacey six string action. Once you get out of the verses, the song really takes off with its enormous sound and killer vocals. With a little bit of grit in his voice, Winterstein seems to channel Billy Keeton (Skrape) at certain points during the contagious choruses.

Lastly, songs like “So Beautiful, So Evil,” “Something More” and “While The City Sleeps” really have something for everyone. If you’re in the mood from some serious bottom end, check out “So Beautiful, So Evil.” The guitars are crunchy, the pace is high, and like always, the vocals spread like wildfire. “Something More” has a great bounce that keeps the momentum going throughout the song. The vocals are catchy, perfectly tuned, and have just enough nastiness that might even make a metal head dig ‘em. “While The City Sleeps” is a totally different animal of its own. While it may be a rock song at its core, it does have quite a bit of sexiness to it. Drawing heavily from the brothers’ (Ian and Kyle Winterstein) side project, Tragedy Machine, the track incorporates both light and dark mood textures along with the guitar, bass and drums. It’s a perfect ending to the album, adding that certain something that most discs lack.

In the end, Digital Summer have an amazing rock album with Counting The Hours. Although there are 16 songs on the disc, you never find yourself getting bored or tired of listening. From start to finish, the band is able to pull different emotions and feelings out of the listener making you anticipate each and every track. I feel it will only be a matter of time before Digital Summer not only take over radio, but take over the world.

4.5/5