Growing up in the early 2000’s my stereo was always on rotation with Nickleback’s “Silver Side Up”, Creed’s “Weathered”, and Drowning Pool’s “Sinner” albums. These three albums were the pinnacle of rock music transitioning from grunge rock to a new era of heavy rock. Now, after 6 years, Drowning Pool is releasing their hardest hitting album yet! “Strike A Nerve” is a testament to the bands dedication to their fans, each other, and makes a point that they will NOT be overlooked.

This 11 track record is an adrenaline rush from “Doing Time In Hell” – a short intro to the oncoming waves of heavy hitting in your face rock! “Strike A Nerve” brings forth the classic Drowning Pool and seasoned veterans full circle in it’s hard guitar riffing clashing style. My personal favorite is “Everything But You”. This song leads in soulful and with deep meaning, slowly growing in drums and guitar backing. Almost four minutes of rawness of life “I let go and my mind grows dark”.

Drowning Pool encompasses all of what rock n roll is. From impactful lyrics and powerful vocals by frontman Jasen, heavy bass, distorted guitars clashing and thunderous drums, Drowning Pool literally has it all. The well rounded band has seasoned their craft, having been together for decades, dedicated to give the world their best. To make their mark on this era of Rock and roll we are in, Drowning Pool IS as incredible as always. Continuously pushing their boundaries of what can be done and defining the odds.

“This record is so badass, it’s perfect. It’s the four of us doing what we do to the best of our abilities,” says Drowning Pool vocalist Jasen Moreno. “The band is tight in every way. We’re firing off on all cylinders. We’re at the top of our game. There are all different ways of saying it, but it all amounts to the same thing – the results are just magic. From the way the record sounds, to the writing of it, to the production, to the look of it – it’s just a perfect Drowning Pool record. None of us could ask for anything more…”

Strike A Nerve will be released on CD, 180-gram vinyl and digital on September 30 via T-BOY/UMe and is available for pre-order here.

“Strike a Nerve is the most exciting and intense music from Drowning Pool to date,” adds longtime Drowning Pool guitarist CJ Pierce. “We’ve stayed true to the core sound people know from us, but we’ve taken everything we do to another level. We’ve been writing music together for over twenty years – half of that with Jasen – and this album is more refined and more true to who we are than anything we’ve done before. Sometimes it’s heavier than we’ve ever been, sometimes it’s lighter, and sometimes we go in a direction that surprises even us – but it’s always just brutally honest, and that comes through in every track.”

“‘Mind Right’ started with the core Drowning Pool sound, then really dug into our southern metal roots,” continues Pierce about lead single “Mind Right.” “This song was written not long after Vinnie Paul died, as a tribute of sorts to him and Dime and a way for us to to honor the impact Pantera had on our local Dallas scene. It’s probably the heaviest song we’ve recorded, but it’s the perfect way to close Strike A Nerve; like the title of the song says, we all need to get our minds right. We need to see what’s going on around us, stand up for what we believe in, and always focus on the bigger picture. We can’t wait to play this one live!”

Overall, this album has it all, lacking nothing, bringing everything we could hope for to reality. I’ve had to opportunity to meet the band on “Make America Rock Again Tour” back around 2017/18 and they were just as great of people as I had hoped. From being a fan since I was a kid, it was a great moment. Now, seeing the band still producing music that is making an impact in the world, I love it. I encourage everyone to give this album a listen, buy the CD, stream the album on all music platforms.

DROWNING POOL
– STRIKE A NERVE

TRACKLISTING

1. Doing Time In Hell

2. Hate Against Hate

3. Stay And Bleed 

4. Strike A Nerve 

5. Racing To A Red Light

6. Choke

7. Everything But You

8. Down In The Dirt

9. Rope

10. A Devil More Damned 

11. Mind Right 

DROWNING POOL – FALL 2022 TOUR DATES

09/26 – Lafayette’s Music Room – Memphis, TN
09/28 – Jergels – Warrendale, PA 
09/29 – The Eclectic Room – Angola, IN
09/30 – The Machine Shop – Flint, MI
10/01 – Stormy’s Music Venue – Beaver Dam, WI
10/02 – The Forge – Joliet, IL
10/04 – The Winchester Music Tavern – Lakewood, OH
10/05 – The Blue Note – Harrison, OH
10/07 – Hard Times Four Mile Fork – Fredericksburg, VA
10/08 – Stage West Penn State – State College, PA
10/09 –  RV Music Fest (Ellie Ray’s Resort) – Branford, FL
10/09 – Dingbatz – Clifton, NJ
10/11 – The Concourse – Knoxville, TN
10/12 – Shagnasty’s – Huntsville, AL
10/14 – The Wildcatter Saloon – Katy, TX

MORE DATES TBA

ABOUT DROWNING POOL:

Formed by Pierce, Benton and Luce in Dallas, TX in 1996, Drowning Pool began as an instrumental trio, named after the 1975 film The Drowning Pool. The group enlisted singer Dave Williams to join their fold three years later and the band signed with Wind-up Records which released Sinner in 2001. Williams died tragically on tour August 14, 2002, stricken by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an undiagnosed heart condition. Sinner stands as his only studio album with Drowning Pool. 

Drowning Pool is Jasen Moreno (Vocals), CJ Pierce (Guitar), Stevie Benton (Bass), and Mike Luce (Drums). Strike A Nervewas produced by Shawn McGhee and Drowning Pool and will be released on September 30 via T-BOY/UMe. “Mind Right” is out now on all DSPs.