Double Brutal

Personnel: Tim Lambesis (vocals, guitar, drums); Ahhnold (vocals); Jeff Gretz (drums). Audio Mixer: Daniel Castleman. Recording information: Verse Media Studios; Lambesis Studios, San Marcos, CA; Big Fish, Encinitas, CA. As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis' humorous obsession with the cinematic oeuvre of Arnold Schwarzenegger gets its most indulgent showcase to date on the two-CD set DOUBLE BRUTAL. The core idea is a good one--Lambesis writes a bunch of thrashy riffs that head much more in the direction of bands like Warbringer and Fueled by Fire than his own full-time outfit, then gives them lyrics and titles relating to the Schwarzography--"I Need Your Clothes, Your Boots and Your Motorcycle," "Come On, Do It, Do It, Come On, Come On, Kill Me, Do It Now," etc.--and has some of the vocals delivered by an Arnold impersonator. The "Arnold" voice only appears intermittently, sometimes as a spoken intro or a between-song skit, other times shouting on the chorus. The majority of the vocals are delivered in a fairly standard metalcore/thrash shout. The second disc, which features covers of metal and punk songs that have appeared in Schwarzenegger films, including Metallica's "Trapped Under Ice," Megadeth's "Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good" and Motorhead's "Iron Fist," would really have benefited from "Arnie" as frontman--otherwise, they're just ordinary covers. One additional note: the instrumental work on this album is uniformly terrific, and it features plenty of shredtastic guest appearances from Billy Sheehan, Unearth guitarist Buz McGrath, the Human Abstract's Andrew Tapley, Living Sacrifice's Rocky Gray, and more.