by Mark Allen
– Senior Columnist —
Lead vocalist Big Dad Rich often describes Texas Hippie Coalition’s sound as Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top having a child raised by Pantera, and that southern-metal formula rolls on unabated like a monster truck with no brakes on their fourth album. This is “red dirt metal” done (mostly) right, with tsunami-sized riffs, enough attitude to choke a rattlesnake, and Rich’s barrel-chested rasp. This is the kind of music you crank when swaggering down a dirt road on the way to give an old-fashioned ass-kicking to some good ol’ boy who’s got it coming.
Often, headbangers dislike southern rock mixing with their heavy metal, but THC overcome that issue by granting the metal primary placement and reducing the southern influence to second fiddle. In other words, this is not just some weak-sauce country music gussied up with metallic guitars. Sure, the southern groove is evident, but this is pure-blooded metal delivered by a band that clearly cares more about headbanging than hee-hawing.
What THC do better than most of their southern-metal brethren is write catchy songs. Nothing complex, but their first-pumping anthems are blessed with the kind of simple, straight-forward hooks that can snag your ears faster than a muscle car goes from zero to sixty. Unfortunately, this time around, some of those hooks could have been better honed. Some songs explode nicely, but other songs seem on the verge of exploding into something memorable, only to settle for something merely serviceable instead.
That being said, there are no truly hideous tunes to be found, nothing that compels you to frantically stab the Skip button. And some of these songs rank among THC’s best, such as “Rock Ain’t Dead” with its raging rhythm, chopping riff, and gang vocal chants. If that one fails to get your blood pumping, check out “Bottom of the Bottle” with its badass, bigger-than-a-brontosaurus riff and unfettered aggression that will make you want to punch something. Rounding out the album’s top three is “Fire in the Hole” which keeps the powerful guitars cranking but crafts a catchy chorus to add a commercial edge to the southern-metal proceedings.
Bottom line, this is Texas-sized metal and if seeing the word “hippie” in the band’s name makes you expect songs about flower-power and free love, well … prepare to be surprised. THC is all about hard charging and hell-raising and they go about it with as much subtlety as a sledgehammer to the kisser. The band breaks no new ground, but this is still one heavy metal ride worth taking.
Genre: Heavy Rock, Southern Metal
Band:
Big Dad Rich (vocals)
John Exall (bass)
Cord Pool (guitar)
Timmy Braun (drums)
Track Listing
1. El Diablo Rojo
2. Splinter
3. Monster in Me
4. Go Pro
5. Rock Ain’t Dead
6. Bottom of the Bottle
7. Rubbins Racin
8. Ride On
9. Fire in the Hole
10. I Am the End
Label: Carved Records
Webpage: www.thcofficial.com
Hardrock Haven rating: 7.6/10
