Brand New Sin
Tequila
Century Media
Worm not included
Now three albums in, it’s the same old shtick with this burly Syracuse band—but for once that’s a good thing. Their brand of accessible, blue-collar, blooze-tinged metal has been done to death over the years, either brilliantly (Clutch), blandly (Black Label Society), or forgettably (remember Little Caesar? I thought not). But despite pedestrian songwriting and a spaghetti western fixation that borders on overkill, there’s a conviction in the music, a complete lack of pretension, that makes these five guys easy to like.
Guitarists Kenny Dunham and Kris Wiechmann form a good tandem (dig that roaring boogie on “Motormeth”), but the band’s greatest asset remains singer Joe Altier. Like Place of Skulls’ Victor Griffin, the imposing Altier has a helluva voice; he’s as good at the Anselmo bark as anyone, yet capable of showing genuine emotion without the kind of whining we get from young metalcore bands, and his skill’s nicely epitomized by the introspective “See the Sun” and the swaggering “Said and Done.” The best is saved for last: On “Reaper Man,” the band digs Peter Steele out of the grave long enough for him to provide some chilling vocal support. The cover of “House of the Rising Sun” starts off perhaps just a little too politely, but goes out in a blaze of glory, with a Skynyrd-meets-Motörhead conclusion that makes us wonder if they’ve swapped their Union blue for Confederate grey. Don’t you ever change, boys. —Adrien Begrand
