Truthless Heroes by Project 86

Truthless Heroes, the third studio album from Orange County's Project 86, arrived on September 24, 2002, and it's a concept record with a sharp moral hook. Frontman Andrew Schwab built it around a protagonist trying to fill the hole inside him with fame, money and lust.

The band hit it with nu metal muscle: Randy Torres and Steven Dail's guitars grind and lurch, Alex Albert's drums slam, and Schwab barks over the top like a man arguing with his own reflection. "S.M.C." is the sound at its most coiled. The album debuted at number 146 on the Billboard 200 on sales of more than 7,000 copies, but the major-label ride was short: the band and Atlantic went their separate ways soon after.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.