I've been a fan of Cold for many years now. They manage to encompase dispare and depression with melody and hard riffs. They have helped me through some tough times, and I would recommend them to anyone who likes self-deprecating hard metal.
They first crawled out of Jacksonville's streets and into the
public eye in 1998 when their debut self titled album hit the stores. Their blend of down
tuned guitars, crunching riffs and soul rendering lyrics soon gained them a large following,
and now having toured with bands including Soulfly, The Urge, and Gravity Kills their fan base
is growing ever more.
Cold is:
The band first formed in Atlanta in their twenty first year, calling themselves Grundig (without Terry - Scooter played guitar instead),
they toured the area for over three years before Scooter Ward moved back to Jacksonville in
1996 after disagreements with his band mates over the direction that the music was taking.
Soon after the move he met Limp Bizkits Fred Durst (who happened to be a Grundig fan). Durst
liked the songs that Scooter was trying out and offered his services and his own home studio
to make a demo tape. This tape had the tracks "Please" and "Ugly" - "Ugly" made it onto the first album. Durst then let Ross Robinson hear the tape, and Ross offered to produce
a full length album.
The name changed from Grundig because the German company wouldn't allow them permission to use the name. When they told this news to Limp Bizkit's guitarist Wes Borland, he said "Man, that's cold". It all came from there.
At the same time Cold signed a six album contract with Flip records (Mr. Durst's own label), and the result was an album so shocking in it's emotion that it bowled over people who heard it,
the album moved Kerrang to award it a full 5K's and to say this
There's nothing better than slapping a debut album on the deck and finding yourself swamped
by an excitingly alien new sound...Cold songs are evil. They crawl under your scalp and build
a nest. Before you know it you're over-run...Cold is the first brilliant album of the year."
Their second album - Thirteen Ways To Bleed On Stage was released in 2000, also on Flip.
It shows the same writing style, but with more perspective and maturity as well. It has also
gone on to sell very well, both in Europe and in the States. The album was produced by
Cold, Fred Durst, Adam Kasper and Chris Vrenna. It was recorded at Studio X in Seattle,
Amethyst Digital in Los Angeles, and Cactus Recording in Los Angeles.
Cold have released a new album (2003) called Year of the Spider. Production was done by Howard Benson and was recorded by Mike Plotnikoff. Initial listening indicates it will be as good as their previous work.
Track listing for Cold:
- Go Away
- Give
- Ugly
- Everyone Dies
- Strip Her Down
- Insane
- Goodbye Cruel World
- Serial Killer
- Superstar
- The Switch
- Makes Her Sick
Track listing for
Thirteen Ways To Bleed On Stage:
- Just Got Wicked
- She Said
- No One
- End Of The World
- Confession
- It's All Good
- Send In The Clowns
- Same Drug
- Anti-Love Song
- Witch
- Sick Of Man
- Outerspace
- Bleed
Track listing for Year of the Spider:
- Remedy
- Suffocate
- Cure My Tragedy (A letter to God)
- Stupid Girl
- Dont Belong
- Wasted Years
- Whatever you became
- Sad Happy
- Rain Song
- The Day Seattle Died
- Change the World
- Black Sunday
- Kill the Music Industry
There are b-sides and other songs released by cold, however the only one I currently know about is 'Gone Away' which was noded by the ever helpful AnBolb. feel free to /msg me if you know others I don't have, I will include them here and try and find the tracks, I will also be very much in your debt.
All three albums have a harsh edge and crushing guitars. They take the idea of depressive rock to a level that is rarely seen. Scooters vocals manage to convey the thoughts and pain of a man who is truly depressed, and as such the lyrics are identified with by many unhappy fans. Many of the songs deal with general depression, failed relationships and self hating. They also show his anger at the world and the feeling of isolation that haunts him. The music the band produce match this style of writing perfectly, dark, moody and heavy; but often slow and well layered at the same time. The second album has more depth, and the lyrics a more subtle meaning, many of the songs are clearly more personal to Scooter, but still have general meaning to the listener. The third album (produced by Weezers singer) has a more mature tone, and shows the band evolving and improving in their musical style.