August 23, 2005 | | 2

Throwdown, Vendetta

I am not straight edge. Never have been. Never will be. I like my Guinness much too much for that. But for some reason I really enjoy listening to these guys play.

My first introduction to Throwdown was a cover of Sir Mixalot’s “Baby Got Back” that at first had nu-metal written all over it ala Limp Bizkit covering George Michael’s “Faith.” Thankfully that wasn’t the case. They have a different guy on the microphone than when I first heard them, but they still sound pretty good.

Burn them to the ground

I popped this CD in when I first got it and I was struck by the change in vocal styling from the last release. Haymaker was definitely hardcore to a fault, full of plenty of breakdowns, and shouted lyrics. This release sees Dave Peters using a different approach to his delivery. And my initial reaction was “Holy Pantera, Batman.”

I am in no way comparing Peters vocal ability and range to that of Phil Anselmo. That would not only be foolish, but also disrespectful to the ex-Pantera front man. I just found it interesting to even be able to think of that comparison based on what I had heard from Haymaker. Beside the new vocal delivery, this album introduces a bit more double bass than their last.

There are only a few tracks on this album that I can really get into. I found their last release to be a more enjoyable listen, especially on those days where all you want is some breakdown-heavy sound blasting from the speakers. Vendetta does show maturity in their song writing as well as some variety between tracks.

Favorite Tracks:
The World Behind
This is Where it Ends