By Monk
Preparing to celebrate their tenth anniversary as a musical entity – although only lead guitarist Damien Goulet has lasted the intervening years to drive the project forward to this, their second full-length album – Shotgun Facelift took the approach of recording live in the studio to its ultimate limit: every one of the ten tracks was laid down with the band all playing together – and if one of them fucked up, then they merely started from the beginning again…
While the band report that it was an exhausting process, the result is well worth the effort, as ‘Dakota Blood Stampede’ (the title is a reflection of their geographic origins) possesses the energy one would expect from a live show, only with the added finesse of a full studio production. It also helps to draw out the raw passion of both the individual and collective performances and the acidic lyricism of the songs’ underlying messages, which range from addiction and abuse to massive “fuck you” tirades against the travails they have gone through over the years, and especially the animosity, indeed outright hatred, they have faced as a heavy metal band operating in the rural backwaters of America’s Bible belt.
Musically, ‘DBS’ treads largely familiar territory, nestled as it is firmly in the groove metal vibe of the New Wave of American Metal as popularized by Pantera, Lamb Of God and their ilk. Big beefy riffs underpin coherent, cohesive melodies which in turn bely, and contrast with, the sheer immensity of the sound which the five members – Goulet, second guitarist Matt Person, bassist Curt DeCamp, drummer Jody Smith and vocalist John Huber – produce. Huber’s performance, in particular, is towering, and you can feel every sinew of his being pouring into his vocals, which impact with recalcitrant aggression and commitment, slamming into you like a veritable tsunami of confrontational angst.
‘Dakota Blood Stampede’ is a hard-hitting, powerful and uncompromising album, neither asking nor offering any quarter. It is merciless in the way in which it punches its way into your heart and soul, twisting every artery, fibre and muscle along the way. As 2021 winds its way into the darkness of yesterday, this is excellent addition to the canon of impressive music which has been produced, often against the backdrop of the most trying of circumstances, over the course of the past 12 months, and is a summation of what we’ve all endured in that time as well as how we have overcome all of the shit that has been thrown our way.
- ‘Dakota Blood Stampede’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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