Artist: Austrian Death Machine
Title: “Double Brutal”
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release Date: 9/29/2009
Genre: Actioncore
Rating: 3.5/5

I have to admit that I shook my head when I saw the release “Total Brutal” by Austrian Death Machine because I was not too sure what it was all about, and when I realized that it was a parody project by As I Lay Dying’s Tim Lambesis that offered homage to all things Arnold Schwarzenegger, I smiled and said “genius”. Let’s face it, if you have seen any number of Arnold’s movies over the course of your life, you cannot argue their own unique level of “Metal-ness” when it comes right down to it. “Total Brutal” was the “groups” first effort and featured tunes like “Get To The Choppa” and employed some killer riffage and frequent commentary by someone known only as “Ahhnold”. It’s actually quite interesting and entertaining to listen to and should amuse you greatly if you are a Metal fan and a follower of the king of action movies and after a holiday EP was released Tim and Ahhnold would hit the bomb shelters and began formulating a second attack for the project. Such is the release we now hold in our hands called “Double Brutal” which obviously continues their premise and even opts to kick it up a notch. Before one can listen to this, they have to separate themselves from the super serious Death and Thrash Metal that is out there and realize that this project is done with a supreme tongue in cheek vibe and designed to make you laugh out loud and perhaps even offer up your own best Arnold impression as the release plays out. Like its predecessor, “Double Brutal” is using various catch phrases by Arnold from his most famous movies such as “Terminator 2”, “Commando” and “Total Recall”. They also use some of the weirder ones like “Kindergarten Cop” and “Batman & Robin” (where Arnold played Mr. Freeze) and it makes for some very diverse Metal exploring. As you might expect, almost every song is about destruction or maiming of some kind and in case you were wondering, Lambesis plays all instruments across the album and has the occasional guest star on lead guitar where necessary. Highlights of the first CD are “I Need Your Clothes, Your Boots and Your Motorcycle” and “Hey Cookie Monster”, the latter being a song that says if you are going to sing like Cookie Monster you might as well have a song about cookies.
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