Brick Bath
I Won’t Live the Lie
Crash
Brutal metallers Brick Bath have certainly paid their dues for several years now, touring like mad and even recording an album that remains unreleased, with the result that this album – their debut, as it is – is far more consistent and crafted than you’d reasonably expect.
Opening with the furious “Inner Peace,” which may or may not be ironically titled, their debt to Pantera is instantly made clear through Joseph McCaw’s biting vocal attacks, Eric Meyer’s churning guitar, and Pete Stone’s and Scott Babbel’s dynamic and precise rhythm machinery. It’s stomping hard rock, a massive metal onslaught, uncontrolled anger let loose. And very good, actually.
Vocalist/lyricist McCaw must’ve had a hard time lately, though, with the lyrics being either over-the-top self-pitying (“I’m drowning in the pool of life/No one sees the pain I hide”) or laughable tough-guy poses (“If you got the balls to dance/Then step up punk and take a chance”) – and most of us can probably do without the dumb hailing of pornography as the second best thing ever (with beer being in the lead).
There’s enough here to keep even the most casual fan of hard-hitting, classic hard metal interested, however, and their focused brutality and direct approach ensures them a uniqueness that’s witnessed only too rarely in this field of music.
Crash Music: http://www.crash-inc.com
