On this album, strains to match 's critically lauded raunch, right down to aping its predecessor's blueprint: three songs on side one, four songs on side two. That's not to say the group's single-minded chugalug has gotten tamer: shudders with a ferocity that would make proud, but is also a ringer for the last album's The first side remains a seamless display of what made comers in the sweepstakes: blunderbuss guitars, cymbal-soaked drums, and vocals that sound like they're being phoned in from the bottom of a gravel pit. shone brightest on these lengthy ruminations about the horrors of war; it's hard to imagine how could have stepped down a similar path without hearing these guys first. Side two is a more inconsistent exercise plagued by an insistence on riffing for its own sake. The gleeful dismantling of 's standard is the standout -- if only because it's so unusual in this context -- while and pull off the old riotous majesty, but could stand some more well-rounded melodies. is a solid outing that only suffers when stacked against its predecessor. and riff-mad peers like would succumb to an '80s-era Darwinian logic that stranded them at the altar -- while sailed into poppier pastures and hit the jackpot. It's just like high school: The prevaricating prom kings got the cars and girls, while everyone else got to watch. ~ Ralph Heibutzki