It is good, though

In a non-Stone Cold sense, Steve Austin has been through some crap. The frontman of the Nashville avant-grade metal band has managed to make it through instances that would’ve crushed anyone else’s spirit—he’s survived a bus accident AND a battle with Lyme disease, which his dog also contracted and had to be euthanized because of it. Taking all of that into account, it makes sense that the lyrical subject matter of the songs he writes for Today Is The Day is associated with negativity—think depression, suicide and different forms of violence as just some of what’s typically expressed.

To be fair, Austin has always made sure Today Is The Day speaks to those lyrical themes, dating back to their 1992 demo How to Win Friends and Influence People. Austin isn’t one to be held back or beaten down though, and even though six years have gone by since the last release, Today Is The Day are still reckoning with that harshness on No Good To Anyone, and it’s just as dejected as ever.

Austin’s vocals are the driving force that gets the album going. He’s known for being terse yet commanding, and those qualities bring out the doomy might of opening (and title) track. The album almost immediately veers toward a noisy, psychedelic feel with tracks like “Attacked by an Angel,” slight post-metal nods in “OG Kush” and hefty industrial in “Burn in Hell” and “Cocobolo.” That’s the beauty of No Good To Anyone— instead of playing out in a seamless and streamlined structure of song formats, the record is frenetic in how its genre influences are arranged. Though sporadic, it matches with Today Is The Day’s general mood of bleak emotion told through callused sounds.

After six years, it’s undeniable that Steve Austin is still able to express tough themes with even tougher sounds. Steve Austin has a way of making the heavier sound even more crushing and while that can be mentally debilitating, it still hits well.