Rogue

In Rogue's world, merely making it through the day feels like surviving a cave-in. Sometimes the going is slow and grating; sometimes the band catches a break and plows on at full speed. The overlong lo-fi metallic rock of "Suffocate" is typical of the band's second album, which finds the Brunswick duo crushed in the wreckage of relationships and its workweek. In "Now Here," frontman Dboy laments "fast cars/fast women/fast food . . . lost souls/lost jobs/lost mind," wielding riffs like a cumbersome battle-ax that's a little too heavy, but still hellaciously sharp. In the studio, the tag team spruces up its rumbling war machine with unexpected details like acoustic notes and a sudden salvo of cowbell. Lowlights, such as the title track, sound like Disturbed. Highlights, like "Circles," sound like Rogue could mop the floor with Disturbed.