Aside from the fact that this is three years old and they just now send it to me for review, I knew this was probably going to suck simply because the band was called Asskicker. I mean, really... could anyone name a band Asskicker and have the band be decent? No. It would only be possible if it was a total joke band playing an openly derivative style of metal and actually making it a funny sort of parody. That's not what this is. These guys try to have a sense of humor sometimes, but it's not funny, and the music isn't really very good. It's sort of rednecky Pantera type stuff, you know? Pretty heavy, sort of thrashy in a modern way, groovy... the vocals are semi sarcastic higher yells with a real sneer to 'em, and they sort of clash with the music, but... that's life. Some of the solos are really well played even though they don't do much for me, and they can perform tightly... so they could be a good band if they worked at it. But who the hell is going to take a band called Asskicker seriously? I mean, some of these riffs are actually really cool, I'll admit that. I don't like the vocals simply because they don't fit (in a fast crossover thrash band the vocals would be perfect), and none of the songs are particularly memorable or whatever... but they do have a lot of potentially awesome riffs. The layout, well... it could be worse. The type and everything is clean and the print quality is great, so they did their best. The cover illustration is of course goofy as hell, looking like a poorly drawn old metal LP, but I can deal with it somehow. I mean, I wouldn't expect something serious from a band called Asskicker. The first song is called "Razor Pussy", so even though all of the lyrics aren't quite that dumbed down, I'm not gonna bother talking about them, so use your imagination. Shit, I mean, this is a strange and in my opinion unfortunate situation, because this CD does basically stink. But if these guys worked on their songwriting a bit to get rid of some the rednecky riffs and stick with the thrash, got more force behind the vocals, and chucked the juvenile humor in favor of something that has even a mild dose more value... they could be good. Oh, but it would also be critical to change the band name. "Asskicker"... it's just not working.
[self-released]
Running time - 41:26, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: a number of good riffs don't always make good songs]
Asskicker - http://mail.chartermi.net/~beer/
