Nickelback’s latest mockery of contemporary rock music, “Dark Horse,” is a testament to everything wrong with the music industry.

The band tries a more metal-oriented sound on their sixth and newest album that is void of any redeeming values.

The instrumentals are bland and uninspired. The band relies on harmonic backing vocals to create hooks instead of well-crafted instrumentals or vocals.

The album’s first track, “Something in Your Mouth” is laughably bad. It’s so bad, in fact, that it actually makes Hinder’s disc, “Take it to the Limit,” look like a work of art.

Nine of the album’s 11 tracks are as grunge as Big and Rich’s “Save a Horse” is to country.

The majority of “Dark Horse” is a testament to the band’s ability to feign quality rock music.

Lead singer Chad Kroeger invokes his inner AC/DC influences with the lyrical references on the tracks “Shakin’ Hands” and “S.E.X.” However, Kroeger fails to include any sense of the witty innuendo found in AC/DC lyrics. With their songs, the listener is left to wonder if the band is singing about a sexual act or not; the effect is a lot of fun. Kroeger’s lyrics just ramble on about sexual promiscuity and bring nothing of interest to the table.

The lead single, “Gotta Be Somebody,” is a listenable track and is reminiscent of the band’s earlier work on “Silver Side Up.”

Unfortunately, the only listenable material on “Dark Horse” isn’t even enough to fill an E.P.

The worst part is this album will likely move a ridiculous amount of copies like its predecessor “All the Right Reasons.”

With so many quality albums released in 2008, it’s a shame.