How many
times have you looked through a magazine or on the internet and saw a band
fronted by a sexy female and automatically went into Beavis and Butthead mode?
Well, a hot chick and boobs will only get your band so far in the industry. The
Butcher Babies have been fighting this stigma since their inception in. They
know that the true talent tends to rise to the top and develop legs to help
maintain a long career in music. Their debut album debut album Goliath is about
to be unleashed on the world. Will it be a step in the right direction in the
development of those legs? Let’s take a look, or should I say listen and see.
Lead singers Carla Harvey and Heidi Shepherd
did garner a lot of attention early in the career of the Butcher Babies for
their nipple tape and outrageous stage shows, but these two ladies have the
brains to back up their beauty. Their self-titled EP was released in 2012 and
word began to spread. The last six to eight months have seen several keys
pieces of the puzzle of their career come together as they signed with Century
Media and began work on their debut album as well being picked by Marilyn
Manson himself to open dates on his tour earlier this year. The buzz really started
to grow for this new album as the band announced that they would be performing
on this year’s Rockstar Mayhem festival.
The album
opens with “I Smell a Massacre” and goes from 0 to 80 in about three seconds as
the riff starts and is accompanied by a huge scream that grabs you by the throat lets you know you are about to
get served. It’s a great lead-off track that sets the bar for what lies ahead. “Magnolia Blvd.” is another healthy dose of in
your face attitude and features a crazy mix of vocals that run the gauntlet
from screaming to clean vocals to a bit of spoken as well. It also contains
some pretty insane double kick drum from Chris Warner as well.
“C8H18
(Gasoline)” is one of my favorite tracks on the album as it brings together all
the elements for the musical perfect storm. The riff is big chugs along and the
chorus is catchy as hell with its use of clean vocals. Another track that stands out is “Dead Poet”
with its unusual arrangement, which begins and ends with sounds of a storm. In
between those moments, the tempo goes from full throttle in your face to almost
a complete stop with a short spoken passage before slamming the pedal to the
floor again. It’s a very clever and unique arrangement that really makes this
track standout. “Axe Wound” will also throw you completely off track with its
acoustic guitar intro before tearing into some massive riffs.
Overall, I
think the band delivers in a major way with this album. It’s intense,
aggressive, and heavy and the riffs, provided by Henry Flury, are catchy and
plentiful without sounding redundant. Carla and Heidi take the dual lead
vocalist to a different level with their creative mix of screams and clean
vocals. The rhythm section of Chris Warner on drums and bassist Jason Klein
provide a strong, underlying layer to the Butcher Babies sound that may go
under appreciated by some due to the two dynamic ladies garnering so much
attention. Warner and Klein lay the foundation to which this might house of
metal is built on.
This album
was one of the most anticipated for the summer of 2013 and I think it delivers
in a major way. I do admit that I wish “Mr. Slowdeath” would have been included
on it. Hopefully, some of the haters out there or those with pre-conceived
notions of the band will give this album a listen with an open mind; I think
many will be converted over if they do. Then again, I don’t think the band
really cares because as long as there are haters out there, then you know that
you are definitely doing something right.
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