These guys think of themselves as thrashgrass, as they play a more aggressive take on bluegrass, which is not that much different from what a band like the Dead South does. The drummer is more on it like a metal guy. Midway into the first song they do step on the distortion pedal to give the guitars metallic balls, which I was not expecting, but I am not a hundred percent sold on when they do that sort of thing yet. An acoustic rock band is also not a new thing, so perhaps kicking it in as they did on the first song is their secret weapon as it is more like Spinal Tap, they are willing to go up to 11. Lzzy Hale lends her voice to harmonies with them on "Mercy". The fact they slowed down and focused more on songwriting for this one plays in their favor.
"B.O.G" works pretty well as they keep things at a reasonable pace and the vocals are the focal point of the songwriting. They are not shabby musicians either. The title track could have been on rock radio in the 90s. It is also not removed from Metallica's flirtation with country music post-Black Album. I mean I think of almost every Metallica album that is not the first five post-Black Album, as nothing else aside from their most recent album made much of an impact on me. Hale's counterpoint reminds me of the trade-off in 'The Battle of Evermore".
Not sure if 'Waco" is about letting freedom ring with a shotgun blast, but it should be. The vocals have a purpose that makes the song work. The more rushed thrashing of "No True Scotsman" is not as effective, despite the cool middle section to the song. The rule here is "cool riffs alone does not a good song make". However they deliver on "In Death' that does not lean as heavily into their metal, which the key seems to not overdo that dynamic. When they are more melodic the band is playing to their strengths. "Stockhom Syndrome" feels more like filler to me. They do kind of jam out more on this one but it does hook me in as well.
"Wide is the River" falls more along the lines of conventional hard rock, which is better than the previous song, but not the album's most original moment, despite how it deconstructs into boue grass. Their cover of Johnny Cash's "God 's Gonna Cut You Down" sounds like James Hetfield jamming with Days of the New. I knew it would. The last song feels like Kenny Wayne Shepard, which is a vibe I have been picking up for a great deal of the album but was forced to put it in words just now. I will give this one a 9 as they pull it off well and some of these songs are catchy enough for me to enjoy.This drops September 27th on Sumerian Records.
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