Berenguer on Nothing

The Great Dismal, NOTHING’s new full-length album explores existentialist themes of isolation, extinction, and human behavior in the face of 2020’s vast wasteland.

More hard-rock than heavy metal, L.A.'s Babylon A.D. get the commercial sound right on Nothing Sacred, despite the tacky cover artwork. More muscular and real than most of the pop-metal to hit the charts in recent years, one can only hope that groups like this will continue to supplant Poison-type dross. The live-wire guitars on uptempo material like "Sacrifice Your Love" and "Psychedelic Sex Reaction" owe a debt to Michael Schenker from his UFO days; lead vocalist Derek (just Derek to you) sings as if life itself depended on every note; the group delivers powerful, memorable ballads on "So Savage the Heart" (serious hit material) and "Down on the River of No Return" without resorting to power-ballad cliché; and integrates some cool banjo picking on the Aerosmith-like "Dream Train."

More hard-rock than heavy metal, L.A.'s Babylon A.D. get the commercial sound right on Nothing Sacred, despite the tacky cover artwork. More muscular and real than most of the pop-metal to hit the charts in recent years, one can only hope that groups like this will continue to supplant Poison-type dross. The live-wire guitars on uptempo material like "Sacrifice Your Love" and "Psychedelic Sex Reaction" owe a debt to Michael Schenker from his UFO days; lead vocalist Derek (just Derek to you) sings as if life itself depended on every note; the group delivers powerful, memorable ballads on "So Savage the Heart" (serious hit material) and "Down on the River of No Return" without resorting to power-ballad cliché; and integrates some cool banjo picking on the Aerosmith-like "Dream Train."