It has been over six years since LA’s Onesidezero was last heard from on a national level. Their debut CD, “Is This Room Getting Smaller?,” was released in 2001 on Maverick Records, with a healthy buzz growing amongst the scene At the time, the band was often lumped into the Bush/Creed school of post-grunge rock, playing darker tinged melodic rock sound that bands like Godsmack, Nickelback and Breaking Benjamin later found success with.

After parting ways with their former label, they shuffled lineups, and went a brief hiatus where frontman Jasan Radford and guitarist Levon Sultanian briefly played in Abloom with former Soulfly members, guitarist Mikey Doling (now in Invitro), bassist Marcello Dias, and drummer Roy Mayorga (now in Stone Sour). Once they sorted that out of their system, Onesidezero resumed and found their way back with their long overdue second record.

The time away from the band appears to have helped them. Maybe the inspiration bug bit them, as these newest songs grab you from beginning to end. This disc shows musical growth since the “Is This Room…” days. They have brought a wider variety of ideas, where a lack of variety somewhat plagued their debut. While the slower songs stand out, it did make their debut record sound a bit too one-dimensional at times.

Stylistically, Onesidezero does not stray too far off from the debut. The melodies that fans remember are still there and Radford delivers his powerful vocals, taking it to a higher level than what was displayed on the debut. The softer vocal style on the slower songs like “Levitation” and “Sleep” is still there, but also holds up on more uptempo tunes like “Carry Your Gun.” There is a lot more variety of styles, which is what the prior release lacked .

“My Confession” is definitely one of their stronger tunes on this release, fusing melodic driving guitars with catchy melodies where the choruses are memorable. Sultanian provides a variety of guitar styles to enhance the band’s sound more, and to bring out the rest of the band’s playing. “Stay” begins with a big drum lead intro, with melodic vocals complimenting the song.

Other tunes like “Who Will Stop The Rain?” and “Safely Forgotten” bring out the band’s songwriting talents, with hints of songs that could be future radio singles.

While the band writes some strong melodic tunes, they did spice up with some unexpected surprises. “Blondevil” is their metal tune, incorporating Megadeth-like riffs and a lot more unexpected screaming vocals by Radford.

“Onesidezero” could be a sleeper release within a year of releases featuring balls-out heavy metalcore and sensitivity enforced emo music. Maybe these guys could remind the world what happens when good songs are written and reactions that come from it. Crazy idea, huh?

myspace.com/onesidezero