I’m always amazed at how the five Southern boys of Saliva continue to completely reinvent themselves and their music with each of their albums to date. And it is almost impossible to compare their sixth and latest release, Cinco Diablo, with their 2007 album Blood Stained Love Story, my favourite 2002’s Back Into Your System or even their self-titled debut.

The cover of Cinco Diablo has the distinct look of Papa Roach’s Lovehatetragedy, and even Year 9 Spanish has taught me to roughly translate Cinco Diablo into a reference to there being 5 members of Saliva, and they consider themselves somewhat devilish.

As first single ‘Family Reunion’ comes drawling in, Year 9 comes flashing back again in the form of P.O.D’s ‘Boom’ and I could swear I accidentally put on Satellite by accident. The track is a lightweight trying to be hard and the guitar riff towards the end sounds like a laser - and not one of the cool kinds either…

‘My Own Worst Enemy’ holds harder sounding lyrics and growling vocals in comparison to the previous track, and is definitely more reminiscent of the roots Saliva. Shinedown’s Brent Smith features here on vocals as well, and when combined with Josey Scott’s talent, the track becomes something a little bit more special. The tune ends on a high note with a spectacular fade out, which cements the song in my head for the rest of the day.
The build up for ‘Best of Me’ is one of the reasons it is my favourite track on Cinco Diablo. The hard, slow, calculated beat, is melodic yet angry and the fight song guitar is mixed with just the right amount of screaming and the right amount of singing.

Second single from Cinco Diablo, ‘How Could You?’, begins sounding very much like an Incubus track. There is a great balance to ‘How Could You?’ that makes it simple and likeable despite the less than amusing lyrics (“How could you cheat on me/Then turn your back on me”).

‘Hunt You Down’ opens with a massive hurling grunt from Scott and contrasts significantly with following track ‘Judgement Day’, in which Scott sings “I miss my family, I miss my girl/I miss my friends, My whole world/I hope I make it back again” which I find doesn’t really fit in with the overall feel of the song. It does however, reinforce that Saliva wouldn’t survive without guitarists Wayne Swinny and Jonathan Montoya, as they absolutely make this track with their massive guitar fill.

‘Forever and a Day’ displays Scott’s surprisingly dramatic vocals and proves he really can sing, reminiscent of their ‘Rest In Pieces’ ballad-type style. Despite this, I find the song to be quite typical and expected, and it would be right at home on the next Spiderman soundtrack.
‘I’m Coming Back’ begins with whisper “Are you ready?” then into a mix of some spitting whiteboy almost-rap with solid hard rock backing - a well-proven theory by the likes of Linkin Park and P.O.D, which obviously works well for Saliva also.

‘Southern Girls’ has a very typical Southern feel beneath the relatively decent rock n roll sound. Almost like mixing the civility of the Stones with the melodramatic feel of Queen and then throwing in some Kid Rock hill billy just for fun.
“All around the world the girls are extra fine/But not like down below the Mason-Dixon line”…Despite these horrible, tacky, Clampit-like lyrics, the song is actually quite listenable. And again, Saliva prove they know how to bring a track to an epic close, with a stunning southern guitar send off.

After final track, ‘So Long’, I actually sit there waiting for another track, even a hidden one, finding it unbelievable that they would end this release with such a disappointing song. ‘So Long’ does not sum up the album, nor the band with its blandness, and I’m left completely uninspired and generally let down by the track.

All up, even when you can tell Saliva have tried so hard, the album just seems so lightweight. There are definite moments of clarity, but, all in all, it just appears to be an album of soft tracks that aren’t even coming close to the glory of Saliva albums passed.

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