If someone asked you what kind of Metal HELLYEAH was the best way to answer would be with "rebellious redneck drinking Groove Metal". These guys sure love their partying and drinking as is made clear in their 3^rd release "Band Of Brothers".

The CD opens up with "War In Me" and the first thing you'll hear is a powerful riff complemented nicely by Vinnie Paul's excellent drumming. Once the vocals come in they will instantly make you think you are listening to a MUDVAYNE track. The second song, the title track, is a good track about standing together and watching each other's back no matter what as the chorus sings, "I've got your back and you've got mine, as long as we stand together everything's going to be alright." A nice solo soon follows which is arguably the best one on the album. Song number four "Drink Drank Drunk" I think could easily be a redneck anthem. The opening riff is very tasty and creates a sturdy foundation for the rest of the song. Chad Gray comes in with a groovy vocal style almost in a rapping kind of way. It's a good change up from the rest of the album where he is constantly screaming and yelling. The chorus is what I can see being screamed by everyone in the crowd at one of HELLYEAH's shows. "Let's get f*cked up! Till we fall down, so everyone get drink! Drank! Drunk!". The rest of the song talks about kicking a** and drinking beer. Do you see now why it could easily be anthem of the rednecks? To slow things down for a halfway point we have a nice ballad like track called "Between You And Nowhere". This is my personal favorite track off of "Band of Brothers". It's a somber track and it comes like a breath of cool fresh air after the intense onslaught of the rest of the album. For me the album sort of slows down from there onward. Not musically because the rest of the CD is ferocious as ever, but seven songs into it the songs start to sound alike and boring. The worst song for me would have to be "Why Does It Always". It paints a not so attractive picture in your mind about intercourse. I won't go into detail but it just really makes me turn my nose up when I listen to the lyrics.

To me nothing on this album really slapped me in the face and made me bang my head. It sounded like they had some nice groovy riffs but thSey were often buried under the vocals. The solos were few and far between and mediocre. It's nice to be able to hear Paul and to know that he's still got it since his days with PANTERA. If you're going to compare this to other groove metal bands like LAMB OF GOD or even PANTERA this falls short. If you are into this stuff of course you're going to buy but if you are on the fence or are wondering what HELLYEAH are all about I'd say pass, go buy "Ashes Of The Wake" you won't be disappointed there.