* ELEMENT EIGHTY

“Element Eighty”

Universal Records

After all the plum pudding mush of the holidays, the mental metal of Element Eighty is very welcome in the New Year.

These young Texas chainsaw thrashers are a cut above almost any other fledgling metal act in America. They wisely take a lesson from their Metallica heroes by soothing their bottom-heavy savage beats with pop-friendly melodies and vocal harmonies.

The mix of sweet croons and menacingly raspy vocals create a dynamic that saves the songs from all sounding alike – the curse of heavy metal.

Take “Flatline.” Here, David Galloway’s guttural brag, “I’m the demon inside of you,” plays out against the light funk riff of the bass while the guitars whine with strains of Southern rock.

Lyrically, these guys are all skull rings and black leather, as reflected by songs such as “Rabies,” “Bloodshot” and “Scars.” Their devotion to the dark side is something they’ll probably grow out of by their next album, but for now, don’t look for any smiley faces.

The best cut here is “Broken Promises,” a great balance of guitar crunch and rock vocals that never degenerates into a power ballad.

Element Eighty appears in a multi-act concert showcase at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Saturday.

* VARIOUS ARTISTS

“Sweetheart”

½

Hear Music

The idea here was to ask a few artists – known for their uncompromising devotion to music and song craft – to record their favorite love songs. It’s a great concept, but “Sweetheart” is as uneven as an album can be.

Case in point: Nick Lowe and Aimee Mann.

Lowe obviously took to heart his task of finding a love song he loved, one that fit his voice. He selected “It’s All in the Game” and performed it as a homage to the famous 1958 Tommy Edwards recording. Although inspired by Edwards, Lowe doesn’t ape the arrangements or the vocal attack, making the song truly his own.

Mann, an equally respected singer, chose to render Burt Bacharach’s classic “What the World Needs Now.” Unfortunately, her mopey rendition hardly fits her middle-register voice, and the strings and horns arrangement is pure saccharine.

Because all the performers – Ron Sexsmith, Joe Henry, Kathleen Edwards and Sarah Harmer – are songwriters themselves, they can recognize good songwriting. So what the disc lacks in performance quality, it more than makes up for in content, with an unusual program that ranges from Madonna’s “Crazy for You” to Buck Owens’ “Your Tender Loving Care.”

Note: You can’t find this disc in record stores, only at Starbucks.

* SANTANA

“Ceremony”

Arista

After the mega-success of “Supernatural” and “Shaman,” the keepers of the Santana flame didn’t want a year to pass without a new album from Carlos and his namesake ensemble.

To that end, Arista patched together a few songs from both albums, remixed them and hitched them with an outtake track that didn’t make the cut from either disc.

The highs and lows are apparent. The disc comes on strong with Santana’s best four songs from those two records: “Why Don’t You & I,” “Smooth” “Maria, Maria” and “Foo Foo.” The rest of the disc is pleasant, but often leans too far into the easy-listening curve for comfort.

As for the outtakes, the best ones are those with a strong Latin beat, like “Truth Don Die.”

Arista Records says this is a limited-edition offering, with only a 100,000-copy pressing – but be certain if they sell, the label will make more.

* RAQUY AND THE CAVEMEN

“Dust”

1/2

Raquy Music

Basically, all we know about Iraq and Iran comes from news clippings about war and natural disaster.

Raquy Danziger, an American, wants to put another face on those countries – through their music. She and her band, the Cavemen, have taken traditional Eastern songs from that corner of the world and melded them into something else with electronic instrumentation.

The result isn’t as jarring as you’d think. All the repetitions of the drum-based music dovetail nicely with the electronic moog swirls and electric bass guitars.

The vocals are less compelling, but when Raquy scats, as she does on “Riq Duet,” this odd but interesting disc of world music is terrific.