Seattle neo-grungers return with muscular second effort.

In the fickle, foolish and sometimes frustrating world of rock'n'roll, timing is everything. Take this Seattle mob, who released their damn fine major label debut in 1998. Exactly when grunge was dead in the water and the likes of Staind and Nickelback hadn't kicked it back to life yet.

This time around, the major label is long gone, but it's definitely our gain that Second Coming have chosen to stick around; singer Travis Bracht is graced with a rich and truly captivating voice, equal parts Layne Staley, James Hetfield and Jim Morrison, and SC's sturdy riffage, stomping metallic grooves and doomy tales of woe here make for a great alternative to the altogether more staid and predictable sounds of glossy neo-grunge chart-botherers Nickelback and Godsmack.

DANIEL LUKES