Sick Daze
Them County Bastardz
•
March 6, 2015

THEM COUNTY BASTARDZ, a 5 piece old school/country metal outfit hailing from the lands of Leamington, Ontario. T.C.B. have been around for a good 2 years and still going at it hard with their debut album "Sick Daze" that was just dropped a month ago. I have to honestly say, when I heard the first track "Drive By", I was actually in my car and it instantly made me feel I was driving somewhere in a Texas county with my ten gallon hat on. My absolute first impression of this song was that the intro actually sounds a lot like the intro to MOTLEY CRUE's "Kickstart My Heart", with the whole use of a whammy bar on a heavily distorted guitar made to sound like some sort or motor. The song quickly diverts to a heavy guitar riff quickly followed by some pummeling drums and bass guitar creating a wall of country metal noise that kind-of reminds me of some early 90's KYUSS, or maybe some good old PANTERA, crossed with some HELL YEAH. For something made in the recent month, I'm actually quite impressed on the vintage recording sound they managed to achieve on this album, not to mention, Andrew the vocalist is going for the John Garcia thing from the album "Blues For The Red Sun". In no way am I comparing the two together closely, nor am I saying I'm the biggest fan of Andrew's vocals, but I will say, they fit the music very well and are nicely done.
The other song I think that nicely stood out for me, was the sixth track, gracefully named "The Bastard", which I would definitely pick out to be the heavier song on the album. Once again it starts with a heavily distorted guitar, introducing the listener with a heavy, desert/stoner rock style riff, then followed by Jim Kay's drums, then of course, Andrew's vocals. On this track, I noticed that their style has changed to more of a nu-metal/desert-rock sound, and makes me think of bands like HELL YEAH or GODSMACK. Maybe that's because Andrew sounds like he's going for the Chad Gray yelling-type thing. I'm liking this song because of it's solid beat complemented with the guitar riff, creating a sense of consistency with the song, which is something I think people look for, Especially in a live sense because people love something consistent to mosh to. I just love that part half way through this song when it kinds creates a breakdown of it's structure and then this huge-sounding, hard-hitting, bluesy guitar solo which sounded great on top of the wall of noise that's pummeling in the background.
Overall, I have to say that the experience of listening to this album, as a whole, was quite enjoyable and fun. I listened to this album in the car on the way to university a few times and it definitely caught my attention. My only concerns were that the timing of the drums vs. the guitars, is a bit off; when the drums come, it I feel as if the drums weren't really rehearsed enough with the guitarist to lock in that timing grid. Despite the fact I enjoyed this album, I have to say that I was a little disappointed when I realized how many times I've heard this music before. The whole country/desert metal thing has been done for years and I just felt as if this album has too much of their influences and less original content. I'd be very interested to hear what their truly original stuff would sound like. Either way I would go as far as to say if you enjoy bands like KYUSS, HELLYEAH, GODSMACK, UNIDA, or maybe even some BRANT BJORK, you'd find comfort in listening to some more music that'll make you bounce around your room in your underwear, whilst listening to some nice Stoner/country, hard-hitting rock.
In total, I'd give it a very light 7, just because I feel they should have rehearsed their music a bit more.<
7 / 10
Good

"Sick Daze" Track-listing:
1. Drive By
2. In The Country
3. Buzz Kill
4. It's Not Metal
5. Metal For Mark
6. The Bastard
7. Rise Up
Them County Bastardz Lineup:
Andrew Watson - Vocals
Jim Kay - Drums
Bryan Alexander - Rhythm Guitar
Mike Rennie - Lead Guitar
Tyler Wickham - Bass
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