Strictly Diesel
Strictly Diesel is the debut studio album by American metal band Spineshank, released on September 22, 1998, through Roadrunner Records. After forming in 1996, Spineshank shopped a demo tape around the Los Angeles area, bringing them to the attention of Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares. The band subsequently began opening for Fear Factory and other bands from early 1997 onwards, attracting the attention of Roadrunner A&R rep Kevin Estrada, who signed the band. Produced by Jay Baumgardner and Amir Derakh, Strictly Diesel is a nu metal and industrial metal album whose sound was compared to bands such as Deftones, Fear Factory, Korn and Sepultura—all of whom Spineshank cited as musical influences. Owing to their association with Fear Factory, Spineshank were touted by Kerrang! as "the next great metal band to come out of LA". Upon its release, Strictly Diesel proved to be a critical and commercial disappointment, receiving mixed reviews from critics and only reaching number 129 on the UK Albums Chart. It failed to chart in the United States, where it sold 66,000 copies by March 2002, and it was considered a failure by both the band and their record label. Spineshank felt they had not properly established a musical identity on Strictly Diesel, and at the time of its release they were dismissed as impersonators of their influences. They would later consider their next album, The Height of Callousness (2000), to be their true debut album, with Strictly Diesel being a "glorified demo", according to guitarist Mike Sarkisyan. However, the band has also acknowledged its significance in shaping their future output. Background 

Spineshank was formed in February 1996 by vocalist Jonny Santos, guitarist Mike Sarkisyan, drummer Tom Decker and bassist Robert Garcia. Santos, Sarkisyan and Decker had grown up together in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles and had previously been members of a band called Basic Enigma, whilst Garcia had been the vocalist for a band called Swinside Circle. Instead of performing any live shows, Spineshank chose to focus on writing and recording new music for the first few months of their existence. In September 1996, the band recorded a three song demo tape with the songs "Stain", "Mend" and "Novocaine". The band made 1,000 copies of the demo, which they handed out at various shows and venues across Los Angeles. One of the demo tapes was given to Miguel "Meegs" Rascón, bassist of Coal Chamber, who in turn gave the demo to Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares, who lived next door to him. A week later, Cazares met and befriended Sarkisyan at a Sick of It All concert. Spineshank made their live debut on January 11, 1997, after Sarkisyan asked Cazares if his band could open for Coal Chamber and  Fear Factory at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. The band's reputation as a live act helped them secure further opening slots for Brujeria, Coal Chamber, Snot, Soulfly, Sepultura, and Danzig. Spineshank were soon offered record deals by Earache Records, Noise Records, and Roadrunner Records. Roadrunner was the only label of the three that offered the band a formal deal; Kevin Estrada, the label's A&R rep for the West Coast, offered the band a "demo deal", giving them the opportunity to work with producers Jay Baumgardner, Jay Gordon and Amir Derakh—who had worked together on Coal Chamber's self-titled debut album in 1997—on a demo that, if Roadrunner liked it, would lead to the band getting signed. However, Estrada reconsidered his offer and instead told the band he wanted to sign them outright. Sarkisyan recalled: "Kevin [Estrada said], 'You know what, I was thinking of giving you guys a demo deal but screw that, I just want to offer you a record deal.' I remember that was one of the happiest days of my life." Spineshank signed a seven-album deal with Roadrunner (the only type of contract the label offered at the time), guaranteeing a $30,000 advance for their first album with a $10,000 increase to that amount per the band's subsequent albums with the label. Cazares assisted Spineshank in their signing with Roadrunner, with Fear Factory's attorney helping them sort out their contract as the band did not have a lawyer at the time. Recording and composition 
After signing with Roadrunner, Spineshank commenced work on Strictly Diesel, with Baumgardner and Derakh as producers. The album was recorded at NRG Recording Studios and LAFX Studios (both located in North Hollywood, California). The album's sound drew from, and was compared to, Korn, Deftones, Machine Head, Sepultura, Misery Loves Co., Tool and Pantera—bands which Spineshank cited as musical influences. Sarkisyan cited the Deftones' second album Around the Fur (1997) as a "huge influence" on the album's sound in particular. The album's programming and loops were handled by Josh Abraham, who was given a co-writing credit on seven of the album's fourteen songs. According to an official press release, Abraham "helped to bring out Spineshank's industrial side." Santos said that Strictly Diesel "is about coming from nothing to something", and its lyrics drew from the personal lives of Spineshank's members "and how overcoming their hardships have made them stronger". Explaining the album's title, Decker stated:A diesel truck starts out slow. It gets on the freeway and everybody hates it, because it's in the way and it's slow. But once it hits 80 miles an hour, nobody's gonna even come f**king close to it. And that's Spineshank. Right now, we're doing 50 and building. Whilst recording at NRG, Spineshank shared the same studio as Korn, and they quickly took on the band's partying and drinking habits. By the end of recording, Spineshank were spending up to $3,000 per week on alcohol, which they put down as studio expenses. Critic and author Colin Larkin wrote in The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2006) that Spineshank were "more interested emulating the hedonistic behaviour of their collective idols Mötley Crüe, than concentrating on working—much to the annoyance of [their] record company." Santos recalled: "[Roadrunner] went f**king apeshit. They were like, 'You're not there to party, you're here to make an album!' ". In later interviews, Spineshank felt that their drinking habits negatively affected the quality of Strictly Diesel, as they were unable to "put everything [they had] into [the album]". It would ended up costing over $100,000 to make, well above the $30,000 advance that Roadrunner was only obligated to give the band. Release and reception 

Strictly Diesel was released in the United States on September 22, 1998, and in Europe on September 28, 1998. Its cover artwork features an "old ... beyond fucked up piano" found at one of the studios Spineshank recorded at. The album debuted at number 129 on the UK Albums Chart. Although the album did not chart there or receive much radio airplay, Strictly Diesel managed to sell over 66,000 copies in the United States by March 24, 2002, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Strictly Diesel received generally mixed reviews from critics. Jody Webb of Chronicles of Chaos liked over half of the album's tracks, but felt that it lacked "anything killer". Quoting/paraphrasing a line from the album's press kit, Oliver of Metal.de called the album's sound "Fear-Factory-Sepultura-Tool-Deftones-light." A contemporary review of the album by Chad Calek of the Iowa State Daily anticipated that Spineshank would "have a hard time separating itself from the oncoming masses of bands that share its same sound", with The Encyclopedia of Popular Music similarly describing it as "a derivative muddle of fashionable sounds". Conversely, AllMusic reviewer Greg Prato acknowledged the album's stylistic combination of Korn, Deftones and Tool, but felt that it "isn't a direct ripoff of [Spineshank's] influences; it's hard to think of any band today that would have had the guts to redo the Beatles' classic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" as a distorted, heavy dirge." Rock Hard also praised the cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", although the reviewer conceded that the main reason they liked Strictly Diesel was because it was a "potent (yes, yes...) copy [sic]" of Fear Factory's sound. Touring and aftermath 

Following the album's release, Spineshank toured Europe as support for Fear Factory and Kilgore in late 1998. In January 1999, the band joined Fear Factory and System of a Down for a tour of the United States that was intended to end in February 1999. However, on January 23, 1999, the truck containing the gear of all three bands (worth $250,000) was stolen in Philadelphia and several tour dates had to be postponed to March 1999. Roadrunner pulled  Spineshank's touring support following the theft, and it worsened pre-existing tensions within the band. The band later toured as support for Fear Factory, Sepultura and Hed PE between April and May 1999, and they also made an appearance at the Dynamo Open Air festival on May 21, 1999, performing on the Gallery Stage. Spineshank's association with Fear Factory created pre-release hype for Strictly Diesel; less than two months before the album's release, Kerrang! hailed Spineshank as "the next great metal band to come out of LA". A guest appearance by Fear Factory's then-vocalist, Burton C. Bell, on the album's final track "Stain (Start the Machine)"  generated further publicity for the band. After Strictly Diesel release, however, Spineshank came to be seen and dismissed as impersonators of their influences by the music press. The album was ultimately considered a failure by both Spineshank and Roadrunner Records. In 2001, Decker told Kerrang! : "I honestly thought it was all over. I honestly thought we'd blown it.". The band were motivated by the poor reception of Strictly Diesel to prove themselves when writing and recording their next album, The Height of Callousness (2000), which several critics saw as a triumph over their detractors from this period. The members of Spineshank would consider The Height of Callousness to be the band's true debut album, as they had not established a musical identity on Strictly Diesel; Sarkisyan would later call the album a "glorified demo". Despite this, the members of Spineshank felt that Strictly Diesel was important in shaping the band's future musical output. Santos believed that The Height of Callousness "would not have been possible without [Strictly Diesel]". Sarkisyan also felt that "A lot of good things came out of [the album] [sonically]", and that it "didn't get a fair shot" upon its release. Decker credited Derakh for introducing him to electronic drum pads to trigger samples during the album's recording, which would become integral to his drumming technique. There have also been some positive reassessments of the album; Metal Hammer included Strictly Diesel in their list of "The Top 10 Essential Nu Metal Albums" in 2016, praising the album's songwriting and Santos' vocals. Revolver also included the album in their list of "20 Essential Nu-Metal Albums" in 2021, calling it "largely overlooked". Track listing
All lyrics are written by Jonny Santos and Tom Decker, except "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" written by George Harrison. Personnel
Personnel per liner notes.Spineshank
 Jonny Santos – vocals
 Mike Sarkisyan – guitar, sitar
 Robert Garcia – bass, backing vocals
 Tommy Decker – drums, electronics, backing vocals
Additional personnel
 Josh Abraham – programming, loops
 Amir Derakh – synth guitar 
 Chris Thompson –  extra guitar 
 Burton C. Bell – guest vocals 
Production
 Jay Baumgardner – production, engineering, mixing 
 Amir Derakh – production, engineering, mixing 
 Steve Mixdorf – assistant mix engineer
 Derek Carlson – additional engineering
 Ulyssees Noriega – additional engineering
 George Marino – mastering 
Artwork
 Kevin Estrada – photogprahy
 Smay Vision – design
 Linda Kusnetz – creative direction

Chart positions

Release history

References

Bibliography

External links 

 Strictly Diesel on YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)

1998 debut albums
Spineshank albums
Roadrunner Records albums
Albums produced by Jay Baumgardner