The Development of the frog is how the album starts, with the song Development, a heavy song with a catchy riff, however, that is all the song is. The next song isn’t much better as Nonpoint seems to have hit the same block many bands hit and that is the sophomore jinx. As the chorus of the song says “going around in circles again,” the listener is subjected to a repeated attempt to catch the ear with a catchy riff. The first single “Your Signs,” is the first song that combines a catchy riff with substance on the album, as the chorus of the song is filled with a delicate harmony of voices and guitar. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is what most metal heads would call the next song at a first listen, as the opening riff reminds one just a bit to much of the classic Black Sabbath song. That is quickly erased with a listen to the verse of the song which shows a lot more than just a similar riff to childhood heroes. The chorus is again like the first two songs bland and dull.

“My own sake,” gives the listener some hope for a good 2nd half of the album, and for the right reasons. It sounds as if the listener is about to be transported to thrash metal but instead gets hit with a melodic verse with a riff that isn’t meant to be catchy but rather to highlight the strength of the vocals. The song “Hands” is a nice song with a slow pace but melodic enough to catch the attention of anyone and it only helps to build on the strengths of the 6 previous songs. It also contains some nice guitar work without the focus of looking for something catchy.

Finally “Excessive Reaction,” a song which a pit will form instantly and bodies will fly. "Excessive Reaction," is just a straight up heavy song with melody and a nice interlude for moshers to catch their breath in between parts of the song.

The 3rd half of the album starts off with perhaps the best song on the album “Mountains,” this part of the album gives proof that Nonpoint has successfully overcome the sophomore jinx after giving a scare with the first few songs. The songs on the tail end of the album give the album its strength. They all have catchy riffs and with respect towards the vocals. There is no one focus on any part of the song, rather a focusing on the whole of the song instead of one particular part.

Nonpoint’s Development starts off on a sour not only to have the listener slowly get hit with better and better songs. The life cycle of a frog starts off sour as a frog is forced to stay underwater as a tadpole but as life progresses the frog rises up from the water and experiences life on the surface. So too does Development slowly rise to some great songs, from a pretty sour beginning.

3/5

Links:
Official Nonpoint Website

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