Hard rock people making nu-metal? It seems highly unlikely, considering the attitude of most rock-lovers towards kiddie music and their representatives Korn, Deftones, Limp Bizkit and the million other spooky bands that have came forth out of nowhere the last year or two. Whether it is just cashing in or not is unclear to me, but in Driven we find some names that are famous enough outside the nu-scene. Guitars and bass are handled by Tracy G and Lerry Dennison respectively, who both played in Dio. Drums are handled by Mike Terrana, who has an even more solid reputation for playing with -amongst others- Axel Rudi Pell and Yngwie Malmsteen. Vocals are handled by the relatively unknown Timm Saxton, who can be found on the credits list for Ratt and Saxon. So, an all-star team, right? No, not completely. Granted, for a nu-metal album the guitar and bass combo on Self Inflicted is of a level that Korn and cohorts can only dream of. The sound created by this two-some is in more than one way reminiscent of Pantera; just listen to the guitars on "Shine" or "The Best Of Me" and you`ll get the drift. The drumsound is also not very usual, with a more or less `live`-feeling to it.

While this works fine in most songs, there are some songs where it puts a bit of downer to it ("Speck"). Nevertheless, the drumming itself is of a constant reasonable quality, not really leaving something to be desired. What DOES leave something to be desired are the vocals. Call me unappreciative, but Timm Saxton`s vocals do NOTHING for me on Self Inflicted - matter of factly, I dare to say that they do not fit the music for a single iota. This best man would probably raise high scores with some of the bands that I mentioned before in this review, but for a nu-metal band his high rock voice is unacceptable, and for me the main and only reason to turn down this album as a whole. A more modern vocalist would have made a great band of Driven, instead of the schizophrenic monster it is now. So, for the future, I would prefer a vocalist who has a more fitting and lower voice. If they manage that, and drop the unnecessary interlude-samples, Driven has the potential of become the most curious of nu-metal bands.