Assjack

That's right Assjack. Not Jack Ass. Assjack is a heavy metal band fronted by Hank Williams III. Yep, the son of the guy who sings the Monday now Sunday Night Football introduction song. Hank III has been tearing up the country scene for sometime now but has regularly been playing two sets at his shows. The first set is his country music and then he comes back on and scares the shit out of his fans with hardcore punk metal.

Assjack's first album is a ten-track selftitled affair written and played entirely by Hank III himself. Having listened to some of Hank's country tunes his punk-outlaw persona is definitely intact here on Assjack but he cranks up the attitude. The first track opens with a Slayer Reign in Blood-esque riff and then blasts off with double-bass action, hey-hey sing-a-long and chug-chug riffage all leading up the FUCK YOU MUTHAFUCKER!!! A couple of themes are constant throughout this album sonically and lyrically. On the sonic side, vocal distortion effects, double-bass, snare-drums, and fuzzy guitars. Lyrically it is very simple, being an outlaw and getting wasted.

The album is loud and fast (like a good punk album) but aggressive like a young heavy metal band just thrashing as fast as they can and making lots of noise (think slipknot's first album). What I cannot figure out is whether or not to take the lyrics seriously. THey are over the top, but so is Hank's country lyrics. Not to mention this guy plays country sets and then actually comes back on the stage and plays Assjack music. Seriously who does something like that? Hank Williams the third does and he does it well.

Mini Reviews from Lala.com

The following is a series of mini-reviews I wrote for a CD trading club that I was a member of. Reviews were limited to 100-200 characters. They are in no particular order and are rated on a 5 point scale. The club allowed you to pick discs you wanted, identify discs you have, and mark some as untradeable. I have bolded the Band and Album names to enhance your scanning experience. The reviews are in their original state of being--whiskey enhanced wit.
Korn: Follow the Leader

Features some star tracks like Got the Life, and Freak... some rockers Dead Bodies and BBK and lots of pure rap rock that brings the score down. Hey Carson Daly do you remeber hanging with these guys? 2 1/2 stars

Clutch: Robot Hive Exodus

Best album of the year. Rocking and grooving with a sound to call their own, grunge-blues-rock. These guys can jam. 5 statrs

Mastodon: Blood Mountain

Terrific album. The music is unbelievable. They can go from a pounding, complicated metal barrage to a melodic trippy segment that takes you far away from where they began. What makes this album great is they are able to successfully weld that mixture together over and over, whether it be in one song, like Sleeping Giant, or from track to track it all works. 5 stars

Celtic Frost: Monothesit

The kind of heavy metal that mothers should actually be worried about their young listening too. A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh is superb. 3 stars

Velvet Revolver: Libertad

Libertad is by far the superior album of Velvets two so far. Scott presence during the recording has obviously benefited this superband. On this disc they have created a solid hard rock album that incorporates more swagger and less of the chaotic soloing that hindered their first effort. Their more focused approach has paid off. 4 stars

KSE: As Daylight Dies

An incredibly intense album overall. Killswitch hit the jackpot by mixing melody with the metalcore sound. The result is pounding metal that you can listen to hundreds of times. The lyrics are terrific again. Continuing KSE's focus on self-motivation, commitment, and positivity. It is worth buying the limited edition to get the extra tracks, especially Holy Diver. 4 stars

Papa Roach: The Paramoor Sessions

Their best album to date. More variety of music and Coby sings more on this album than in the past. Their lives shows equal the energy and passion heard on the album. Chicago 2/15 @ The Vic 3.5 sttars

Morphine: Cure for Pain

Being a metal head I am finding it hard to categorize this incredible album. Itunes classifies it as alternative and punk. It certainly is not a mainstream sound and Morphine does have a rebelious attitude, so that works. Originally the track Thursday, a tale of forbidden love gone wrong, caught my attention. I picked up the album through BMG and was shocked by how much I liked the entire album.

The album features lots of heavy bass and deep sax intermixed to create catchy, groovy laden songs. The singers deep voice and tales of misfortune add to the album's overall atmosphere.

Cure for Pain features a number of unique tracks that stand out. In Spite of Me is soft song featuring a mandolin wishing a loved one the best of luck in the world that the singer didn't help prepare them for. Let's Take a Trip Together has a slow, smoking lounge sound that takes you away to a different era. 4 stars

Deftones: White Pony

This album is the sound that will forever define the Deftones. Soft-loud verse-chorus structures, ambient sounds, and dark sexually suggestive lyrics "my jaw and teeth hurt I'm choking from gnawing on the ball" 4 stars

Tool: Anemia

An articulate masterpiece of dark broody songs that build into raging torrents of aggression and anger. Unequaled by anything. 5 stars

Powerman 5000: Mega Kung Fu Radio

"Dollar a Look!!! Public Menance, Freak Human Fly" The best album by the original line-up. This was Powerman at its best: funky, experimental, heavy jams, great use of vocals. For heavy tracks checkout Car Crash, Organized, Earth vs. Me. For a funkier sound listen to Tokyo Vilgante#1, Standing 8, Even Superman Shot himself.

Update 9/15 I saw them last weekend and they played "Neckbone". This is not average run of the mill metal. They definitely have their own unique sound on this album 4 stars

Orange 9mm: Tragic

One of Helmet's current guitar players, Chris Traynor provided the chops for Orange 9mm before joining Helmet in 1996/7. THe title track, Failure, and Kiss it Goodbye are the best tracks. Kiss it Goodbye is a fun blast it loud track. 3 stars

Willie Nelson: Country Man

I love this album. Classic Willie with a jamaican twist. Great to chill to in the hot summer. 5 stars

Andrew W.K.: I Get Wet

Why hasn't anyone written a review for this album? Maybe because he's a clown. But his music is catchy, and fun to listen to from time to time. 3 stars

Pantera: 101 Official Live

Anyone wanting to check out Pantera should buy this album. It captures everything that was great about the band. Listening to the crowd roar on Walk and Fucking Hostile is unbelievable. 5 stars

Korn: Life is Peachy

After this album Jonathon Davis put his truly haunted childhood to sleep. Korn lost their lyrical teeth after this twisted rocker. 4 stars

Ministry: 12 Inch Singles

I decided to write a review about this album because it keeps coming up in my trade list and just clicked the keep button. Here's why... "Everyday is Halloween". That's it, I heard when I was in 5th grade, taped it off the radio forgot all about it, bought Pslams 69 in high school and somewhere along the way learned that that 80's dance track with "mmm mm mmm bop bop" chorus was by the same band who cranked out Jesus Built My Hotrod and industrial sludge (that rules) like Scarecrow and Corrision.

Moby: I Like to Score

I enjoyed this album more than other Moby efforts because of the variety of upbeat songs on the disc. It is not bogged down with Mobyism. 3 stars

Baroness the Blue Record

An impressive sophomore album from this young band from Georgia. The songwriting and sequencing of songs on this album craft a unique and invigorating metal album. I would like to use the newer buzz phrase "Southern metal" but the band prefers to distance themselves from that moniker. The album is uniquely american. The arrangements, solos, and sequencing reflect an appreciation for blues and seventies progressive rock sound. Tracks on the album do sound metal to the nonmetal listener but the overall vibe of the album is more progessive hard rock than heavy metal. That puts Baroness in the same sonic niche as most bands played on radio, but Baroness is far and away better.

Why are they better? Songwriting. All of the songs have hooks and are easy to listen to, but the hooks are not predictable pop hooks heard on the radio. The comparison I can make to preexisting albums would be to compare this to Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream. That album and this one have a sonic cohesiveness that is a rare treasure to behold. Baroness' album is not at all a Pumpkins copycat. It is far from that. I only want to draw attention to the fact all the tracks are well written and flow into each other seamlessly creating a kaleidoscope of sound that delivers whether cranked to ten on sunny day in the car or listening on head phones looking out the window.

After the intro track the album unloads with two heavy hitters, The Sweetest Curse and Jake Leg. Both are big rollicking affairs doused with solos and roaring vocals (not screamed/yelled/growled, just load and manly). The hypnotic acoustics of Sleep that Sleeps the Eye follows and gently bleeds into Swollen and Halo. A track that actually shares the same chorus as its predecessor, a clever play that blurs the line between the different tracks. But Swollen and Halo is not a continuation, but an extended main coarse. The amplifiers and intensity return on Swollen as do mini jam sessions and melodic riffs throughout the vocal segments. Listen for the music and vocals to build crescendo style and crash into a wall of cymbal crashes before mellowing into a guitar solo. Damn, I could write all night about this song. The song finishes with two plus minutes of instrumental jamming before Ogeechee Hymnal continues the jam at a slowed pace for a minute. Ogeechee then slips into a feedback induced prelude introduction to the pounding A Horse Called Golgotha. The tempo of the drums keep this song anchored throughout the variety of melodic solos and riffage that propel the track.

O'er Hell and Hide begins with an acoustic harmony before dumping some amplified bass guitar on the listener, followed up again by melodic solos that propel the tempo before Baroness turn down a different road for the vocals. The lyrics are spoken in a cadence at intervals between the galloping riffs, solos, and jams. War. Wisdom and Rhyme begins with a minute of the rhythm section pounding away. The intensity ebbs and flows throughout the track. The vocals feature distortion and a layered background vocals echoing the lead singer. Blackpowder Orchard follows and serves to add to record's atmosphere with acoustic melodies and some electric feedback soloing. The Gnashing is the albums last full length song. The Gnashing plays from the great rock-n-roll song book, a long build intro before an amplified build-up then drums pounding and finally the vocals come in after three minutes. Bullhead's Lament anchors all of the albums variety of sounds and is the goodbye serenade that forces you to accept that this musical journey through the hills of Georgia will be ending soon.