DFW original metal strikes again, but this time I must admit I am thrown for a loop because when you first look at this cd cover and then the band name (Scum Scunge), you think this must be a band that does not take itself very seriously and is doing this just for fun. But when the opening tasty riff of "Fidget" fire up, It is time to pin your ears back and dive in to the true diversity of this release. One minute it has a hard-core vibe in the feel of C.O.C. or Down and the next you get a punk or death metal feel while all along some doomy "Sabbathy" riffs courtesy of long time local scenester, Stuart Taylor are molesting your ears.

Lead vocalist Mike Rivarola has several different vocal styles, some Phil Anselmo type versus mixed with some Corey Taylor clean parts and some Pepper Keenan thrown in for good measure as well as some guttural death metal and almost grunge sounding Aaron Lewis tones especially on the songs "Unanswered" and "Lockdown." Bassist Rick Y. Lee, another longtime local veteran, gets to shine on the song "Execute" while drummer Sean Hannon kills it all the way through.

The heaviest music on the slab is "Evil Death Die" which almost has some thrash parts and "Nothing But Hate" which really made me think of Pantera/Down but there is nothing on here that is groundbreaking and there are only rare occasions where a guitar lead will appear, but for a "just crank it up" type release of some killer sludge metal with mixed genres you will enjoy this! If you have a chance to hear this or see them live, give it a shot because let me tell you I had this cranked in my truck and found my head bobbing quite a bit!!

On a sad note, the band's photographer and longtime local metalhead, Russell Barber passed away the day I received this in the mail and he will be missed by all and would have been proud to see his pictures in the cd booklet.