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Agony Column > Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles > Reviews
Agony Column - Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles

The South Will Rise Again!!!.... - 86%

Nightcrawler, August 11th, 2004

This vicious heavy/thrash hybrid hailing from Austin, Texas, here bring their second effort of their music, which they themselves prefer to call Hillbilly metal, and on this album more than the debut "God, Guns & Guts" their redneck side is quite prevalent. The album cover proudly sports a devilishly red goats skull impaled by a pitchfork and surrounded by a circle of barbed wire, and in there two baseball bats aimed at opposite directions proudly fly one flag each - the Texas flag on one side, the Confederate flag on the other.

The basis of their music is the same - pretty standard heavy metal song arrangements with not much variety in the way the songs are put together. However, the songs themselves infuse a little more personality and variety, keeping this a more interesting album that tolerates abusive listening better than it's predecessor. And of course, the natural influence from the Southern rock and country music these guys were most likely brought up on. "Lord Almighty" begins with a melodic and bright opening riff in big southern style. "Bayou Road" tells tales of driving down a swamp road with witches and whatnot, and features the hilarious quote: "Did I tell you the store of ole black Jim, who was scared till he turned half white". And they also covered the Mountain classic "Mississippi Queen", and turns it into quite the raging riff-monster.
Cause the vicious riffage from "God, Guns & Guts" is still very much there, and they prove it right from the start, as the album begins with the heaviest song on the album, and the most reminiscent of the stuff on the debut.
"Brave Words And Bloody Knuckles" is an ode to fighting all over the world, and bravely tells anyone who'd fuck with these Texas maniacs that you're gonna fall straight into the pile of victims - not only do the lyrics quite clearly state this ("Fuck with the best, you'll lay with the rest so get out of my fucking way/I can see you're a punk who could use a good beating, so come on and make my day!") but the downright vicious riffwork and the crazy growling falsetto voice of Richard Turner (or as his stage name was on the album, "Devil Chicken"- how cool is that?) will immediately smash your face in and at the same time charge the jugular with razor sharp fangs. Yeah, this might be their best song ever, but they have so much kickass material, I could never decide.

Another highlight on here is the insanely catchy and hilarious "Lord Almighty", featuring priceless hillbilly lyrics ("There was a big bad bubba screaming 'Hey get drunk and fight me!' And I woke up in New York in a cold, cold sweat/Jesus lord almighty!"), and the previously mentioned southern-inspired metal riffs that's sure to inspire some air guitaring.
Another heavy highlight is the righteous "Crime And Punishment", with the crazed riffage in the middle as a definite highlight. Then there's also the fun "Hole To Hell" which uses the legendary riff also found in songs such as AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie", George Thorogood's "Bad To The Bone" and Motörhead's "You Better Run" among others, and while not really up to par with either of this songs, it's still a pretty fun tune.
The song that stands out the most, however, is "When The Rain Comes Down", which is extremely different from anything else they ever did, sporting some very well done fast-paced melodic speed/power metal riffwork and extremely memorable vocal lines, highlighting a great sing-a-long chorus. One of the more serious-minded songs on the album, and definitely one of the best.
Less serious are the 1:30 and 2:00 minute long "Suppertime" and "Hellbilly Blues", two short, hectic songs with more amusing lyrics and stands out more like novelty numbers more than serious songs, but are still very enjoyable listens.

Overall, this is very different in many ways to it's predecessor, but "Brave Words And Bloody Knuckles" still stays true to it's roots in heavy metal-oriented music with a few somewhat thrashy riffs every once in a while for extra kickass. What was done here was just to infuse some of their Southern roots into the music and make the whole thing somewhat less serious, showcasing one hell of a sense of humor, but skillfully doing this without losing any of the musical value- although some of the songs aren't quite top-notch, there's some amazingly good stuff here, and after careful consideration I'd say it's in fact tied with "God, Guns & Guts". Both are awesome, and if you come across either of them, don't hesitate- Buy!