CD Review

On the second go, things start to feel tired for the hard rock hybrid that is Audioslave, even if the thought of ex-Soundgarden and Rage Against The Machine players joining forces still sounds cool.

Out Of Exile brings more monster riffs and testosterone-heavy anthems to the table, but offers nothing new or interesting enough to really keep you coming back for more. Exile even emulates the start-hard/finish-soft format of Audioslave’s self-titled debut, but its songs fail to match the guitar crunch and groove found on “Cochise” or “Show Me How To Live”.

Vocalist Chris Cornell remains a powerful presence but still sings about dreary topics that he already covered in his Soundgarden days (drowning, dying, burning suns, etc.). And some of Tom Morello’s trademark guitar shrieks just seem forced and predictable here.

If by their third album Audioslave can’t prove that they’re more than just an off-the-rebound side project, they might consider going back into exile.