Sabertooth ZombieThese dudes come from North Bay, CA and play punk rock that has plethora of influences that range from all kinds of punk, metal and even some hip hop. The band has been around since 2003-2004 and have released a demo titled "The Only Good Politician Is A Dead Politician". Since then they have also released a split with Lifelong Tragedy titled, "The Dungeon Sessions".
This album contains 18 songs of punk rock that deviates from the standard shit you've probably heard out the ass. Granted, it isn't totally ground breaking but they put their own spin on a genre that is completely over saturated. Technically, there are only 13 new tracks considering that "Shoes," "Fragments," "Self Mouth," "Get Bent," and "Giant" appeared on the bands demo. The songs are extremely succinct and the majority of the songs are barely over a minute long, yet the band is able to squeeze in some awesome riffs into the time which in turn keeps the intensity level high. One of the best things about this album is that while the songs maintain an overall feel which helps the songs eeb and flow throughout the entirety of the album. Each song has it's own identity; some songs may be a little faster, others a little more melodic, some with breakdowns, some without breakdowns, some with melody, some with thrash influence, some with sweet well placed leads.
The band doesn't let up any in the lyrical department either. Just by the title of their demo you know these guys are going to be harsh and completely un-PC. The bands singer, Cody, douses the powers that be in gasoline and lights the match while standing there with his dick in his hand waiting to piss on the charred ashes. Whether it's about the commercialism of punk/hardcore ("Decayed Decade"), how money plays a role in every facet of government ("I'm Fucking Disgusted"), how the singer would love to cross civilization as a 300ft giant ("Giant") or even about pretentious assholes ("Get Bent") this dude delivers with sincere words, filled with hate.
This album sports a damn fine recording. The one thing that really stood out to me was the natural feel of the drums, they have such a warm tone and have the ideal levels. The guitar tone is razor sharp and works nicely with the treble heavy tone that the bassist uses. The vocals have good placement and tone.
The layout is printed on semi-gloss which works quite well with the hand drawn tattoo styled design. The drawing itself is of two vipers that have their mouth open for attack as the bottom of their bodies, which are hands, shake. The little circle symbol with has the initials of the band looks cool. The lyrics are displayed over 3 vertical panels and are printed in white font over a black background. It's not a chore to read so I can deal with the lack of images/colors. The back cover has a moon with the album title and length below it. The track listing is on the side of the booklet that you see when you open the jewel case.
Rating: 4/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Fragments, Giant and Subjugate
Synopsis: This album is completely awesome and you should be all over this. Check out the band's Myspace page for info and to check out some songs. Also check out the labels page for merch/songs/etc,. Also the band will be teaming up with TGR's again to release a 10" in the near future. So keep your eyes peeled.