With Meshuggah-sized riffs, Devildriver-style grooves, and two ladies behind the mic that parallel Maria Brink and Angela Gossoow with their ferocity and finesse, L.A.’s Butcher Babies is anything but a one trick pony. On their debut release, Goliath (Out now through Century Media), the quintet deliver a punishing eleven tracks of unbridled mayhem.
“I Smell A Massacre” sets the tone immediately with drummer Chrissy Warner utilizing a metronome-like precision on the opener and throughout Goliath while Henry Flury’s razor sharp riffs compliment the equal parts bile and beauty that co-vocalists Carla Harvey and Heidi Shepherd spew forth. Bassist Jason Klein gets his chance to shine on the scorching single “Magnolia Blvd” which showcases the band’s fierceness and tendencies towards New Wave Of American Heavy Metal-style thrash.
If Slipknot was looking for a bit of estrogen to inflate their already huge line up then a track like “C8H18 (Gasoline)” would serve as the perfect audition tape for Harvey and Shepherd. Elsewhere, Flury flexes his riff mastery on the destructive “Grim Sleeper” which also features the most soaring of all BB choruses on Goliath. The blistering title track follows next with its’ vicious refrain of “Just one inch away from murder” and if the previous four tracks were any indication, you know that this band means it!
The second half of Goliath is just as strong as the first even when the band “slow down” (Slower but no less heavy) on a track like “In Denial” (With a riff that Adam Dutkiewicz would’ve been proud to pen) or pick up the pace for “The Deathsurround” making their debut as solid as they come.
Part of the appeal is the music, the other half is the performance. That said, you’d be silly to miss the band when they’re on the road as direct support for Danzig on a bill that also features MM favorites A Pale Horse Named Death and Texas Hippie Coalition. Conveniently enough, the tour pulls into Worcester’s Palladium on Saturday October 19th as part of the annual Rock and Shock Festival (And really, what other band will “rock and shock” you better than Butcher Babies?). For a full list of Butcher Babies tour dates, go here.
Goliath is out now through Century Media. Get your copy digitally through Itunes and physically through CMdistro.com.
Grade: A