Butcher Babies: Take it Like A Man

LA based thrashers the Butcher Babies have been going full throttle since their inception, releasing an album or EP every year. With each one getting stronger than the last and their second full length for Century Media Take it Like A Man is no exception. The album was produced by former Machine Head Guitarist Logan Mader and is next level shit. For those of you thinking co-vocalists Heidi Shepherd & Carla Harvey are just another set of pretty faces, take your head out of your ass and give Take it Like A Man an honest listen and you will see that these girls and their stellar backing band aren’t fucking around and are the real fucking deal. If you’ve had the distinct pleasure of seeing them live then you already know that this band puts on one hell of a show and demand your respect and consideration. That’s probably why they have already shared the stage with some of the biggest names in metal and played almost all of the major festivals, building an extremely  loyal fan base along the way. Lead single and video “Monsters Ball” is a stout example as to why that is. The song was written about being in The Pit and like the lyrics and singer Heidi Shepherd explain, “You know, it’s that moment when you’re lost in it and feeling it so hard that…You can’t stop moving, No you can’t stop moving!” By stark contrast, tracks like “Thrown Away” and “For the Fight” have more hooks than a tackle box and are sure to please fans of bands like Lacuna Coil, while “Igniter” literally lights the flames of vintage thrash and burns on into oblivion. Elsewhere, “The Cleansing” finds the band blending clean vocal lines with guttural grows with stunning results. Meanwhile, “The Butcher” cuts through meat to bone, bleeding the listener dry and “Gravemaker” is a churning acid bath of hate that proclaims “I’m not your God” & “I’ll drag you to hell with me,” then proceeds to do exactly that. One listen to “Never Go Back” and it’s obvious why the band wanted it to be the lead single and the self-empowering rally cry of “They will know me, They will love me, They will praise me, When they see my name in lights” in “Marquee” sums up the band’s attitude about their future success. Like the line “I could wake up, but I just don’t sleep” indicates, “Blood Soaked Hero” is a heavy metal nightmare that you cannot escape and “Dead Man Walking” is 50% In This Moment, 50% Arch Enemy, equaling 100% perfection. For shits and giggles the band decided to re-record their own song “Blonde Girls All Look the Same” from their debut single in 2010, thereby taking a song that was already amazing in it’s own right to a whole new level and closing the album as strongly as “Monsters Ball” started it. Here’s the bottom line. If Take it Like A Man doesn’t cement the Butcher Babies position as a musical force to be reckoned with, there is simply no justice left in the world. 8.5 out of 10. Eric Hunker