Saliva: Back Into Your System

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * *)

Should the competitors at the upcoming air guitar nationals want something that sounds suitably air-

punching but isn't yet another slab of Hauraki-friendly classic rawk, then the second album by this Memphis pop-metal outfit might do the trick nicely.

Sounding like an attempt to bridge the gap — in the market — between Nickleback (with whom they've had past ties) and Linkin Park, Saliva aren't exactly original. But they sure know how to deliver an anthem of tuneful anger.

That's whether it's hydraulic-riff numbers like Separated Self, the rap-metal blast of Raise Up or the occasional lighter-waving power ballad like All Because of You and Rest In Pieces (co-written with Motley Crue's Nikki Six).

Generic perhaps, but it still sounds like Saliva are within spitting distance of the big time. Or a loud mime.

(Label: Island)