| CD REVIEW Austrian Death Machiine |
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Band : Austrian Death Machiine Hahaaa...let's get our teeth into this wonderful tribute to Arnold Schwartzenegger, one of Hollywood's most popular actors of the '90s (remember his box office successes such the Terminator trilogy, Predator, Commando, Total Recall, Red Heat, Kindergarten Cop, Running Man, True Lies, Eraser, and more?) and current governor of California...or is it all a joke? Whatever it is, looks like the media ain't always that positive about this side-project from As I Lay Dying man Tim Lambesis, who played all instruments except for some help by JP Gericke on guitar and Mike Catelano on the cymbals, and guest solos by the likes of Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage, Eyal & Emil of Daath, Jason Suecof of Audiohammer Studios, and more. Singing is none less than the mighty Ahhhhnold (whom frequently brings a perfect parody of the Austrian Death Machine akà "Gummybear of Candycornia" in the spoken word parts, and actually succeeds in bringing that typical vocal signature in at least sóme of the singing as well) on top of the many movie soundtrack samples. The music? Pure up-tempo Thrash Metal of the Bay Area type, baby...meaning there's plenty of room for a nice build-up, always a solo to boot, and an eerie feeling for melody nevertheless, with catchy sing-along passages to boot! Recorded and produced by Lambesis himself during his free time at his own Lambesis Studios in San Diego, the album contains a total of 17 tracks for a total of 38 ½ minutes of, depending of how you look on the subject, hilarious witticism or very nice tribute...with a humourous wink though, because there àre some comic/ ironic indeed! Check out the three songs posted at myspace.com/austriandeathmachine, and find out for yourself whether you like Lambesis' type of humour or not. In the blogs on that same site, you can find additional info. First single off the album would be If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It (based on Predator;listen to it on the MySpace page). Even before the album's release, ADM was getting attention from the media, with a story being put on MTV.com in early June, and the first reviews coming in at the beginning of July (check it all out in the blogs!). Anyway, this is a truly great album musically, and anyone with half an ounce of humour in his body will certainly appreciate that aspect of this project. Personally, I won't go as far as to put Total Brutal into my year-lists, but I'll admit to having had a blast of fun with the conceptual part of the album first, and only came to realize about the musical qualities after a couple of listening sessions...you know, because I was having so much fun in the first place!! 90/100 Tony. |