Album The Things We Can't Stop (Cold). Songs and videos online

The sixth full-length effort from the stalwart Florida alt-rockers, The Things We Can't Stop is Cold's first new collection of songs in eight years. Far removed from the harsh Korn- and Tool-influenced sound that earned the group commercial accolades in the early 2000s, the 12-track set hews closer to the dour post-grunge atmospherics of 2011's Superfiction. Commencing with the anti-bullying anthem "Shine," the first of a slew of midtempo rockers that flex both sonic and emotional heft, The Things We Can't Stop paces and frets, but unlike the group's early works, it does its best to bear the weight of the world instead of just raging against it. Frontman Scooter Ward may be the lone original member, but Nick Coyle (guitar, keys, backing vocals), Lindsay Manfredi (bass), and Aaron Fulton (drums) are locked into the Cold vibe, administering dense soundscapes for the brooding crooner to reckon with. There's an icy metallic sheen to "Without You" and "Systems Fail," both of which benefit from a much-needed shift in tempo, and "Devil in You," with its rolling backbeat and widescreen atmospherics, builds to a roaring crescendo, but The Things We Can't Stop never really takes off. Cold have always been nu-metal outliers who are just as interested in texture -- and inducing a sea of Bic lighters/cell phones -- as they are decibels, and six albums in, they've officially left the scene. This is commercial-grade active rock angst made with great care and sincerity, and it resonates, but on a mostly superficial/ripped-from-the-headlines level. Longtime fans and aging nu-metallers might get a charge out of it, but slick, midtempo alternative rock with elements of post-grunge, shoegaze, and a dusting of heavy metal is a hard sell in 2019.