Flybanger's not into making trendy music. For them, it's all about the fundamentals of good, hard metal, Pantera-style. Their sound is nearly devoid of popular effects, something most bands wouldn't dare these days. From the very beginning of Headtrip to Nowhere one gets sucked into this sheer lack of pretension. The melodies are ruled by the bass, the vocals are punctuated with the guitar, and the cymbals make their presence known. None of the songs on Headtrip particularly stand out, and that's a good thing -- it's a sign that this CD is solid from start to finish. Consistency is the rule, from the nature of the songs to their very basic elements. In fact, one can literally picture the band in a live video, circa 1994, thrashing their way through MTV's Headbanger's Ball.

Some of the writing does stand out, however. There are moments of strong lyrical imagery, and while musically the guitar does a nice job of filling in just enough, the bass is definitely the main element here. Bassist Tom MacDonald's talent is very evident on the darker tracks, and his repetition in "Evelyn" really evokes a slow spiral of depression. The melodies hook you right into the music, and their smooth change-ups do not go unnoticed. It's difficult not to crack a smile, hum along, or at least drum your fingers during irrepressible tracks like "Cavalry" and "Haul". Good clean fun for everyone... well, maybe not clean. The harmonies, as a result of being so bass-heavy, lay a very murky groundwork.

A few tracks veer toward cliché, though -- the token drug song "Crackballs", the unsurprising, warbling opening of "Demon Away", and the unnecessary, expletive-laden rant at the end of "Evelyn" spring immediately to mind. However, the hits definitely outnumber the misses. Despite a few modern touches - a sampled moan here, a rant there, this is definitely metal, early nineties-style, before Limp Bizkit bastardized the genre. If you miss metal's roots and are avoiding rap-core at all costs, Headtrip to Nowhere is sure to make your day.