Geezer Butler. The man needs no introduction. As bassist for legendary Black Sabbath, Mr. Butler has been a part of some of the most important and influential heavy metal that affects what we listen to, even today. I know that's a pretty strong statement, but I am certain that the metal world today would be a lot different had Black Sabbath never existed. Having said that, I am sad to report that Geezer Butler's new album (under the GZR moniker) is nothing but a copy-paste job of today's popular, "in crowd" nu metal. With some 35 years experience in the metal scene, I still wonder how this type of drivel could be the product of one of metal's most heralded heroes. A prominent leader of the scene has sunk the level of a pathetic copy cat "wannabe".

After listening to 10 sterile, but heavy (who cares about this if the songs are horrible?) tracks, this has to be one of my biggest disappointments of 2005. Please, make this Clark Brown (lead vocalist) stop shouting and rapping in my ears! Wow, if my portable cd player didn't cost at least $50 to replace, I would have spiked it into the ground after the wretched third track, Prisoner 103. There's enough random shouting and rapping in that sound to please even the most rebellious mallcore kiddie loitering in front of the local shopping mall. Seriously, Clark Brown is one terrible vocalist. When not rapping or shouting, his voice sounds sterile and lifeless. The guy gives nothing to the songs. It sounds to me as if he has stripped the basic formula of nu metal / rap metal vocals and given a textbook performance of that on this album. I can't help but wonder if he's trying to say "See how hard-core and pissed off I am? Ain't that cool?" Despite the heaviness of the music, the songs have absolutely no attitude, part of which can be attributed to the vocals. Also, rapping and angst driven shouted "vocals" should never be mentioned in the same sentence as Geezer Butler.

OK, let's discuss the musical aspects of this album. Even if I totally disregard the vocals, none of the songs does anything to stand out. Sure they are heavy, but the unimaginative nu metal riffing and rhythm work becomes repetitive very fast. The heaviness is there, but it sounds like the band is simply trying to be heavy for the sake of being heavy. After all, that what's "in" these days, isn't it? By the fourth track, I swear that the same riffs and drum fills are already beginning to repeat themselves. That's one thing if it's a good riff, but Ohmwork seems to play the same generic riff and drum beat over and over and over and…. Of course, all the shouting and rapping on top of the plain music gives the songs an anonymous MTV sound that you could never distinguish from the hundreds of other bands playing this stuff today. The drum work is just as unimaginative as the rest of the music; predictable, and seemingly out of the "How to play nu metal" handbook. While at the gym, I listened to this album repeatedly the whole time I was there. I looked down after a while to find that I was on track #8. I couldn't remember what ANY of the songs sounded like, not could I remember any distinct division between any of the songs. The songs pretty much have the same anonymous sound, meaning that this album is a 43 minute ride through Yawn-ville. After suffering through this album, I can't distinguish one song, one riff, one drum beat, or one catchy moment at all. I'm astonished at the lack of creativity displayed here; absolutely astonished. I don't know if Butler has simply surrounded himself with poor musicians, or if he's just forgotten what metal is all about. Whatever, this is really sad. I get the impression that Geezer feels really uncomfortable with this type of music. It just sounds so generic and sterile, like he forced it out of himself just to prove that he is still relavent in today's metal world. All he has proven to me is that he is completely irrelevant without Black Sabbath. Sorry for being harsh, but this album is pure crap of the highest order, something I'd never say about even the weakest Sabbath material.

If Ozzy is still busy filing his reality show or doing whatever cash grab scheme Sharon has cooked up, then Black Sabbath should move on without him. This reunion idea has yielded very little to this point, and I am sad to see a member of the band resorting to crap like this just to make new music. If Ozzy isn't motivated, why not call Tony Martin and continue on with that incarnation of Black Sabbath? Heck, anything would be better than this monstrosity entitled Ohmwork. A 35 year veteran and legend of heavy metal releasing an album like this is a shame. In all seriousness folks, there is nothing about this album that I like. Geezer's guitar work is flat as a pancake; at best, he's on auto pilot. Listening to a farting quartet with a 50,000 watt amplifier would be more appealing than the vocal "prowess" of Clark Brown. The songs themselves jumble themslves into one big, angst filled borefest. Alright, you get this point. Please, avoid this album at all costs.