Press
Feb. 05, 2007
Did somebody order pizza? Because this shit delivers.
The first full-length from Boston natives Motherboar dishes out groove-heavy, head-thrashing music like they were born for the undertaking. Built on a solid foundation of thrash, blues, hardcore, and Southern rock, Raise the Death Toll careens through seven tracks of blistering, pounding metal that leaves a trail of wreckage and waste in its wake. When the Motherboar comes to claim its crown, prepare to be undone.
Raise the Death Toll is a hulking beast of pure, distilled metal groove. Its titanic riffs are meaty and thick without becoming ponderous, and Kenny Irwin's prehistoric howl sends chills down the spine of any warm-blooded mammal. Like contemporaries The Sword and Mastodon, Motherboar combine monstrous riffage with churning and twisting melodies, never repeating the same tired notes over and over again. Bombastic rhythms keep the pace steady and pounding, working you into a near-bloodlust by the end.
But despite this maelstrom of mayhem, the record remains surprisingly melodic with great hooks and devastating breakdowns. This keeps the album from ever becoming a monotonous wall of sound. Many of the songs (such as 'Dead by Dawn' and 'Terrordactyl') have shout-along choruses that belie the band's hardcore roots: I challenge anybody to see them live and not start screaming 'all hail the Terrordactyl!' If anything, the album is too short. With only seven tracks (and about 25 minutes worth of music), it ends just as the going gets good. But as brief as this ride is, Raise the Death Toll is a fearsome experience that cannot be denied. Grab your battle-axe and your shield, it's time to do what the good Mother tells us.
Eric Chon