POP MUSIC REVIEW : SOUND BARRIER’S NEEDLE IS STUCK

Sound Barrier has a new record company, a new album and a new bass player, but the band is still dogged by the same old problems: weak, generic material and clumsy instrumental overkill. Although the group has been part of the local headbanging scene for several years, its performance Thursday at the Whisky evidenced little growth.

The most challenging aspect of the show was trying to single out the biracial quartet’s biggest weakness--the one-dimensional roar of its music or the relentlessly mundane lyrics. Very close call.

Musically, Sound Barrier emphasized speedy, thundering rhythms over which would-be guitar hero Spacey T. cranked out a string of unexceptional solos. After a while, you couldn’t help feeling that these guys wouldn’t know a nuance--or a melody--if it banged them on the head.

Keying on the group’s verbal side just made things worse. Essentially, Sound Barrier tries to pass off empty sloganeering as lyrics--hinted at in titles like “Aim for the Top,” “Fight For Life!” and “On to the Next Adventure.”

The last, introduced by singer Burnie K. as “a song about life,” posed the question, “What is life without adventure?” The more pressing question at hand: What is heavy metal without adventure? One answer seems to be Sound Barrier.