Watch Them Die
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Watch Them Die have emerged from the Bay Area like a giant sewer rat ready to devour every fucking thing in sight. This is ugly metal for an even uglier world and you will like it... or it will make them very, very angry. And we don't want that. No we don't. This quintet is so angry already that four fifths of this band is doing vocals of some sort. They are so jaded that they use awesome, evil samples, one of which is a guy screaming, "I'm not asking for forgiveness and I'm not repenting!" Do we really need to piss them off any more? I don't think so.

It's obvious on first listen that WTD have been paying attention to the enormous legacy brought forth from the streets around them. They play some awesome thrash with death influences that ranks up there with the best the Bay Area has to offer, but WTD don't make it quite so simple for us. Their crusty sound gives their thrash attack a slight twist. Sort of like keeping your knife in the freezer for a few hours before gutting someone with it: It does the same amount of damage either way, but it's just a bit more uncomfortable for the victim. You can imagine that look in his eye when he realizes the blade is giving him frostbite for the remaining thirty seconds of his life and that you just did it because you wanted to send as much pain his way as possible. It's just priceless. It's called "attention to detail" and it's important to have even if you are just a simple knife wielding maniac. After all, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:10, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy fucking* might." I guess that applies to gutting people, as well. Take pride in your work, that's all I'm saying. OK, so I added a little profanity to that verse. But I'm pretty sure that's what King Solomon meant. He was a badass. After all, he once tried to cut a baby in half.

Where was I? Right... the review...

Anyway, Watch Them Die aren't satisfied with simply being a crusty thrash band. No, they write songs that actually go somewhere. Songs that do stuff. Songs that don't all have the same over-used riffs with the same goddamn beat. No boring, egregiously simplified thrash formulas here. They aren't from Gothenburg, after all. Did I just say that? Yeah, I did. Granted, this is still well within the confines of thrash and it ain't blowing my pants off with originality, but they do mix it up just enough to keep it fun. This thrash album, while being very true to Bay Area form, takes you on a little ride through death metal, doom, and all kinds of dirty music all with a crusty sound. Did I mention that they pull of the dirty sound while somehow keeping the production nearly perfect? They are the total package.

I hate to sound like one of those stuck-up metal elitists, but this band is "tr00". Hell, they would almost be clichéd if not for such an original presentation and such interesting twists on their chosen genre. They never stray too far from the rules of thrash, but they manage to keep it interesting and give the listener that added slice of goodness. What makes no sense to me is how so many die-hard metalheads have let this album slip past them. Stop letting it slip by you. Freeze your fucking knife and buy this fucking album.