Unleash the bulls, man! Hell Yeah, I mean it! If you look closer the brand new HELLYEAH album's artwork, you'll immediately realize that the boys take more seriously their guitars and spread all their anger between their tabs and their cowboy hats this time. Chad, Greg, Tom, Bob and of course, Vinnie return in the music industry three years after the decent self-titled album of 2007 and they are ready to prove that HELLYEAH is not just a nonsense, shallow project or some foolin' around stuff; "Stampede" has a lot of their previous sound-attitude and the song short duration but I might surely tell that it's a step forward, closer to the American groovy Metal style that dominates nowadays the Metal market and farther from the PANTERA/ DAMAGEPLAN/ MUDVAYNE thing the entire press hurried up to accuse the Dallas, Texas quintet. The only thing you have to do is to press the 'play' button and let the heavy tunes to speak free.

"Cowboy Way" begins with a massive and "dirty", catchy guitar riff, while Chadscreams a big-breath 'yeah' at the song's opening which characterizes what's up next for the rest of the album. Fast tempo, heavy riffs and the band's sonic lacing are some of the main HELLYEAH features in "Stampede" that become clearer and clearer, track by track. "Hell Of A Time" could be "You Wouldn't Know" alter ego and its catchy melody settle in my mind immediately from the very first listening (notice the sound of the beer tin's opening at the end of the track - cool!). Chad's readings remain at the same level to the previous album, Bob's bass playing has a more aggressive character. Also, you can find awesome tripping guitar moments in "Stampede" because of their filling and completely heaviness.

The self-titled track follows the same HELLYEAH steps, still without ingbe something special while the next "Better Man" experiments with slower tempos, reaching the tripping "Alcohaulin' Ass", having more emotion though; it's my album's favorite. "Pole Rider" carries HELLYEAH trademark and its drum-y intro is pretty clever and rousing; it could be considered a stoner rock track too (thanks to Vinnie, I think), just like the rest of the album from that point and on, where becomes heavier. Check "Cold As A Stone" and "Order The Sun" for example, with the mid tempo but total lifting "Stand Or Walk Away" being the only exception (and I'm still comparing to the previous album, having "Star" on my mind).

You might search for the album of the year or the deepest compositions that could change your lives forever; nop, HELLYEAH albums are not included in this category. They just contain songs for having fun, booze and a nice ride with a lots of good friends. They're albums for summer and sun and some BBQ before sunset, near to a beach or something. "Stampede" is exactly this kind of album and because do my summer up (making me look forward to HELLYEAH's appearance in this year's 'Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival') gains the title of the 'excellent album' for July 2010. Hell Yeah, babe!