Godsmack

The formula for naming a radio-ready aggro-rock band is simple: Religious imagery plus drug or sexual imagery equals gold! Boston alt-metal quartet Godsmack has it just right, but there are plenty of other options: Needle Jesus! Crucifix Whore! Acid Christ! Godsmack’s latest album, 2010’s The Oracle, sounds like all its other albums (though the group describes it as a return to its roots), as if the songs were written by a computer program designed to analyze Metallica and Alice In Chains and robotically spit out second-rate imitations. Cheerless and loud, Godsmack may be monikered with religious imagery, but the music is mostly soulless. Popular, though: The Oracle and its two predecessors, IV and Faceless, have all topped the Billboard chart.

Updated 05/18/2011