Review Summary: Ontario based 'party-thrash' band follows up excellently on promising debut.
For those who were impressed by Baptized in Bloods energetic fun debut album, Gutterbound be prepared as this self titled album follows it up in style. The band is managed by none other than Dave Mustaine and this album is produced by Zeuss who has also produced work by Shadows Fall, Hatebreed and Chimaira. Baptized in Blood are a hard band to pin down genre wise so most have simply started to call them party thrash in reference to the fun way in which they approach thrash with uplifting leads and catchy choruses, some have also called them progressive metalcore and although they contain metalcore elements this seems like a tenuous link.
The album opens with the amusingly titled Up Shirts Down Skirts which fairly quickly establishes what makes this such a great band. Although the first few bars of this song are actually more reminiscent of a pop punk album this thought i banishes as soon as the lead kicks in. The lead guitar lines on this album are by far some of the best I have ever heard and also stand out as unlike a fair amount of thrash they often take on an upbeat major key sound. After a complimentary scream from lead singer Johl Fendley the verse kicks in and thrash in thrown into the mix delivering a high octane verse with a strong riff keeping a strong backbone to the verse. The chorus is just as impressive with memorable shout along lines, and yes another lead line. Which is great. The next song on the album is Dirty's Back which the band has released as a single accompanied a fairly standard music video. The song is one of the more mid-paced songs on the album and also has more of an emphasis on the vocals which shout such lines as 'Im bringing dirty back' and 'Suck my dick/See it just comes naturally'. Despite some slightly dodgy lyrical quality I really enjoy this song and it seems to show off some of the memorable songwriting and what is one of the best choruses on the album. Whether this was a good choice of song to release as a single is debatable but it is still a very solid track off the album.
The next track Game On follows the same formula as Dirty Back with a fairly mid paced feel most of the time and a spot on chorus and a decent solos. Actually one thing the band could probably improve on is the solos as although they never feel out of place they often do not quite reach the quality of some of the repeated leads and can feel slightly they are there simply so the song has a solo. Next song Only Cure is one of the more thrashy songs and the pummelling drums make it one of the fastest songs on the album, its a decent song and I really like the guitar at the intro which is oddly happy. The song also features a bridge which definitely reminds me of metalcore with the chant of 'It feels like a part of me has died' and a chuggy dissonant riff. THe next song Down And Out while not one of my favourites on the album is still a strong track and has large potential in a live setting with a great chant and some great riffing. Mental is next and is probably my least favourite track on the album although a technically impressive riff at the chorus brings it up in my opinion.
Last Line Lady another essential listen with what is possible the best lead line in the song sounding especially good about 1:15 into the song, the chorus also brings the goods. The song also has *gasp* a breakdown although it does not last that long and is fairly enjoyable. It fits the song fairly well as well. My Salute follows Last Line Lady nicely although I would be lying if I said this was one of the more memorable tracks. Go It Alone, best chorus on the album. Check it out. Will Of A Demon is truly great with a really impressive arpeggio just before the chorus and the best solo on the album, does feature the line 'My head is saying yes/But my heart knows that it is lying' which out of the context of the song does sound truly rubbish. The two last songs, Sinking Ships and Event Horizon finish the album solidly and and are both great tracks, Event Horizons intro riff particularly impresses me.
It is probably worth mentioning now that Gutterbound could in some respects be viewed as more of an EP as it contains a few songs that are on this album as well but it is a ten track long outing so I consider it to be an album on its own. However this is definitely an album worth owning as although it would not be wrong to argue most of the songs do follow a certain formula it is done so well and anyone who enjoys their thrash and even melodic-death could have a lot of fun with this record as long as you can bear some fairly cheesy lyrics. And happiness.
