This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Stabbing Westward’s fourth studio album is self-titled, supposedly to reflect the band’s rebirth — the Chicago foursome have traded in their dated industrial-rock sound.
A fine idea, given that the genre is dead as a nine-inch doornail. Trouble is, they haven’t replaced it with anything interesting. This 10-cut disc is no less bleak and moody than earlier albums like Darkest Days and Wither Blister Burn & Peel — it’s just less sonically abrasive, with the pounding drum machines and screeching instrumentation replaced by midtempo beats and dark pop swirls. Ultimately, Stabbing Westward have gone from being just another industro-metal band to being just another crappy, whiny mope-rock band. Maybe they should take another stab at it.
