From the folks at Century Media, the extreme record label that brought the world such acts as Shadow's Fall, Nevermore and Arch Enemy to name just a few, comes the labels next creation which arrives in the vicious form of Oakland based thrashers Watch Them Die. Bastard Son is the bands sophomore effort which comes hot on the heels of their 2003 self titled debut, and like their first CD, this one takes no prisoners right from the onset and makes no apologies for the fact that it's a fantastic throwback to the glorious era of old school thrash.
When a band like this has as much pain and anguish to express and are prepared to unleash it with such wild abandon as they are, you better be prepared for the sonic onslaught, because the sheer brutality of their sound packs about as much punch as boxing glove stuffed with concrete. You get the picture. As I mentioned the over all sound of Watch Them Die unabashedly celebrates the thrash style completely and the twin guitar punch of Sonny Reinhardt and Greg Valencia demands your complete attention as they fire off one uncompromising riff after another out at will. Check the tasty Sabbath style intro to "Under Flames" or the riff-age on "Throne of Lies" where the first half of the song has a slower tempo but doesn't lose an inch of its overall impact. The band is not afraid to mix up the tempos in their songs and show a bit of variety in their music; tracks such as "Born to Suffer" and the aforementioned "Throne of Lies" are evidence of this. Vocalist Pat Vigil is not only an intimidating physical figure to look at, as are the rest of the band with their huge arms sporting various hardcore tattoo's, but his vocals are so abrasive that he could probably peel paint off the walls. He barks out his tales of anger and loss with such venom you'd swear the guy gargles a cup of Drano right before they hit the record button in the studio. This is a rock solid follow up which excels in every way, I pity the band that takes these guys out on the road with them and has to follow them onstage every night, because after they're done there won't be much left of the audience or many of them left to play to.
Track Listing
1) Bastard Son
2) Onslaught
3) Throne of Lies
4) Horizon
5) Belial's Path
6) Under Flames
7) Early Mourning
8) Battle Lust
9) Born to Suffer
10) Armageddon
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