Sappy Bell

Sappy Bell doesn't have a huge buzz about it, though it probably deserves more than it gets. The band managed to land an amusing-but-rough track on the DRI tribute We Don't Need Society, but lead guitarist Mel Hardy is more Slash than Spike. The quintet, which has been making moves in Cleveland since 1995, also has the savvy to hire big guns: This new disc was recorded and mixed by Switched producer Ben Schigel. (The slick artwork only looks like it was done by Derek Hess; singer John Sloboda drew it.)

To Die Again Tomorrow picks up a few steps beyond where the band's previous effort, Call to Rise, left off. Sappy Bell has the hardcore pedigree, but at the end of the day, its three-minute songs are metal-plated rock spiked with an adrenaline needle of punk, filled with fierce riffs and ultra-short hot-lick solos. The harmonic chorus of "Salvation" flirts with modern rock, but piledrivers like "Three-Car Pileup" work in the tradition of Integrity -- they ignore genre and just do whatever will get the crowd moving.