BIRDS OF PREY

It's probably best to just get your ass down and stay there until "Weight of the Wound" finishes exacting vengeance on those who've made the mistake of talking shit and inciting the beast. Comprised of a rabble of grimy southern fried sludge hogs and rowdy metal shit kickers, BIRDS OF PREY give a whole new meaning to "super group." Featuring the ever burly Ben "Boss" Hogg (BEATEN BACK TO PURE),Erik Larson (ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY, ex-AVAIL),Bo Leslie (THE LAST VAN ZANT, ex-THROTTLEROD),Summer Welch (BARONESS),and Dave Witte (MUNICIPAL WASTE, BURNT BY THE SUN, DISCORDANCE AXIS),BIRDS OF PREY does not fuck around in dishing out its southern baked death metal and filth rock. It ain't meant to be pretty and it sure as hell doesn't smell very nice.

Virtually devoid of melody and chock full of diesel-powered rhythms and ugly ass riff churning (almost like early DISMEMBER at times),the "death and roll" descriptor slapped on the Relapse press statement isn't too far off, provided you're not thinking in terms of a JUNGLE ROT or a SIX FEET UNDER. It just takes a listen or two to adjust to the sonic ugliness, including Hogg's blood-and-whiskey vocals (think about a nastier BBTP, if that's possible) before the, uh, compositional nuance and power driving grooves begin to break through. Don't get your hopes up too high though, as you'll not find any innocent laughter or smiling faces, no matter how deep you dig.

After the PANTERA-esque riff grind of "Mangled by Mongoloids (Ripped Apart by the Retarded)" and brutal churn of "Hustling the Coroner (to Overlook Strychnine)" induce wild-eyed delirium, the boys hit stride with "Buttfucked with a Shotgun Barrel". The tune is especially violent, changing tempo nicely from its full-speed assault and sporting a hot riff to boot. And yeah, based on those titles, you can pretty well figure that Hogg has taken BBTP's hymns of the maladjusted one step further. The height of said lyrical psychosis occurs during "Murder of an Off Duty Cop", the most morose of the bunch with a slower, burning tempo and a tale of wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time violence that'll scar the brain with some awfully disconcerting images. The grand finale is "To Kill a Co-Worker (You Ain't My Fucking Boss Man)", a song that begins innocently enough with an acoustic lick and descends into a mass of sickening chords and vocals before the pace jumps up a notch and a screaming solo takes the tune home.

"Weight of the Wound" will likely have greater appeal to fans of BEATEN BACK TO PURE, rather than ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY or MUNICIPAL WASTE, although BIRDS OF PREY is considerably more ferocious and twisted than BBTP. And folks, that's saying a lot.