3 Out Of 5 Stars
When hard rockers Breaking Benjamin went through a very ugly breakup and set guitarist Aaron Fink and bassist Mark James loose, they hooked back up with old bandmate and vocalist Nick Coyle (who served time with Fink and James in a band called Lifer - one album in 2000) from the critically acclaimed Drama Club, then found drummer Josh Karis. Laying low during the legal wrangling that was Breaking Benjamin's crash, the foursome started wood-shedding on new material. Taking their name from a Mother Love Bone song, they finally surface with this self released EP. "Exhale."The album starts of promisingly enough with "Aphrodite," which plays to the band's strengths. I've always thought Fink to be an underrated guitarist who can create the heavy riffs but can also deliver atmosphere. Turns out Coyle is a pretty enthusiastic singer. There's also a very strong single contender with "When We Fall." Producer Grammy-nominated Neal Avron understands this kind of polished thump, and Stardog Champion follow through with the kind of high polished radio ready rock that would fit nicely on current AOR radio, especially anyone would take a shot at "When We Fall."
Unfortunately though, something is missing to my ears. Stardog Champion are certainly above the regular competence of plenty of bands mining this genre at the moment, but they seems to lack a certain sizzle that made Breaking Benjamin stand out over the crowd. I'm not sure if Stardog Champion needs to take themselves out on the road to gain that grittier feel, but the songs here come off as too polished, too eager to please. There's enough promise on "Exhale" to make me want to see where they go next, I just guess that I'll have to see where they head to as they continue onward.
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