Iron Gag (Ferret)

Robert Meadows, A Life Once Lost's lead singer, could use a copy of Relationship Rescue: A Seven-Step Strategy for Reconnecting With Your Partner by Dr. Phil. That 2001 New York Times bestseller promises to "kick a hole in the wall of the pain-ridden, unhappy maze you've gotten yourself into, and provide you clear access to action-oriented answers and instructions on what you must do to have what you want". Now consider that Meadows's first words on his Philadelphia groove metal quintet's latest album are "I am repulsed by the lack of dedication you bring to this relationship" ("Firewater Joyride"), and to conclude 11 tracks of similarly themed primal screaming, he roars: "Disappointment is part of my life/It is the honest and nasty way of being let down" ("Ill Will"). Get on the couch, man!

Morbid-minded headbangers, however, will be pleased that Meadows takes his misanthropic lyrical cues from Lamb of God's Randy Blythe, who handles vocal production duties on this disc, rather than from TV's favourite straight-talking shrink. The guitar tandem of Doug Sabolick and Robert Carpenter likewise favours the sledgehammer approach. From the grizzly-bears-from-hell assault of "Worship" to the made-for-moshing mania of "All Teeth," Iron Gag sounds like a bar brawl between Pantera and Black Sabbath, with Killswitch Engage and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster trying to jump in. If you believe life is really one big sweaty mess, then ditch daytime TV and seize this CD.