POWERMAN 5000's Builders Of The Future

Builders Of The Future is the latest album from nu-metal band Powerman 5000 and was released on May 27th, 2014. My initial opinion on the album prior to actually listening to it was that it would most likely suck. I've always viewed the band as one hit wonders and ventured into their album with extremely low standards. Sometimes I tend to be a perfectionist but my initial opinion about this album was wrong.I'm not a track-by-track reviewer so I'm just going to give my input on some tracks that stood out on the album.

The first track that stood out for me was their first single from the album called "How To Be A Human." It's a song about a robot that is learning how to blend in on planet Earth. This was the first song written for the album and according to vocalist Spider One was the centerpiece of the album, meaning all of the tracks were based off of this song concept. The album will remind you of Rob Zombie, that's going to be your first thought. That was the only thing that I could think of since Zombie and Spider are brothers they tend to sound alike. The title track "Builders Of The Future" was kind of a break track where PM5K turns away from the heavy approach and focus more on the electronic vibe. It has a dubstep breakdown around 2:19 and sounds unique. I know Korn tried to mix heavy metal and dubstep but that turned out horribly. Power Man 5000 can actually make the mixture sound good, as a band that has been experimenting with the electronic sound prior to it's mainstream success.


Another stand out track was "I Want To Kill You" and according to vocalist Spider One it is considered "by far the least Power Man-esq song ever done." Far from any other songs on the album the track is simply just vocals, an acoustic guitar, and a song about wanting to murder someone who wants to do the same to you. It's like the equivalent of Slipknot's song "Snuff" off of 2012's "All Hope Is Gone"A soft song smack-dab in the middle of an all out metal album.


My favorite track on the album is entitled "Modern World" mainly because of the chorus: "We like living in a modern world. We like living in a modern world. With laser beams and electric girls. We like living in a modern world." The first time I heard that I was hooked. I could not get it out of my head. Not only does it stick in your head but it adds to the futuristic tone that the album has.
Another interesting track was "I Can't F*cking Hear You" which was the very first track I listened to on the album. How can you not listen to it first? With a title like that that just jumps out and stares you in the face I was eager to listen. "This song is about being lost, and no matter how hard you try to communicate no one can hear you."


The final track on the album, "Evil World," was a previously unused track from years ago. The band decided to throw it in since it fit in with the theme of the album. As mentioned in the Spotify commentary for the album the song did fit in perfectly.

Overall the album isn't as bad as I originally intended it to be. All along I was lead to believe that nu-metal was dead and that Power Man 5000 was left in the dust. This album is considered a bitch slap to my intellect. If you want to give the album a listen it is on Spotify and thanks to the magic of HTML I can let you stream it right here.

My opinion is only an opinion. Feel free to tell us what you think.

New England's Metal Shows