The Oracle

Godsmack's fifth album is a no-nonsense collection of rumbling hard rock with splashes of roiling '90s grunge and stinging heavy metal. Sully Erna's sandpaper snarl goes toe-to-toe with pile-driving guitars on "War and Peace", while "Devils Swing" lives up to its name with its razor-sharp guitar squalls and serpentine grooves. On the moodier side of things, the instrumental title track closes the album with evocative tension powered by oceanic cello and quicksilver metal riffage.