Quebec-based monster act GrimSkunk has been around for more than a decade. They're well-seasoned veterans of the balls-to-the-wall hard rock scene and, after a little break (little should have been longer, if you get what I mean), have thrown themselves back into the mix, releasing their eight full-length, Fires Under the Road, an amalgam of musical influences that are blatant and poorly masked.

The weak three-minute "America Sucks" is nothing new, be it musically (simple mid-tempo guitar chugs), lyrically ("In the western world, where we're all free/There ain't no room for true democracy/No one listens to a word you say/And no one cares about you anyway"), or even politically. Like the slew of stateside bands that lament about America's shortcomings, GrimSkunk takes on a first-person viewpoint on something they've mostly likely haven't experienced first-hand, thus failing to make a profound, lasting statement. They do, however, have a hit in the French sung liberation number, "Vive Le Quebec Libre," an aggressively fast-paced composition with a sweet guitar lick that's deep-rooted in hardcore punk. Other tracks like "Blown to Pieces," "Power Corrupts," and album closer "Crazy," are ordinary tunes with ostentatious arrangements that are somewhat elaborate and seem a bit restrained.

Despite how long GrimSkunk has been around, it isn't terribly hard for a band to pilfer other sounds and attempt to make them their own. The shaky musical oeuvre, experimental prog propensities, appealing pop and rock sensibilities, forceful drumming, and thunderous wall-of-guitar noise is something heard before, and Fires Under the Road does zilch to separate the Canadian act from the herd. That, of course, is all irrelevant if that isn't what GrimSkunk wanted to achieve.